The intention

Diabetes is a comprehensive disease and requires a lot of management skills from the patients themselves. Researcher Anneke van Dijk therefore wanted the self-management support method (SMS) to test. The aim of the project was twofold: Firstly, evaluate the implementation of SMS in practice; Second, to demonstrate the effect of the implemented SMS approach on the well-being of diabetic patients.

The approach

All patients received a letter from their GP with four questions about their emotional and social well-being, which they sent back to the University. These were the same questions that the trained practice nurses asked verbally in the diabetes consultation to determine who would receive the SMS support.. Patients who would qualify for SMS support on the basis of the written screening were pre-selected to participate in the effectiveness study.

The result

There was a big difference in what patients filled in in writing and what they said to their practice nurse. As a result, the majority of the study participants were not identified in practice and therefore did not receive Self-Management Support. The effect of SMS on the well-being of diabetics could therefore not be demonstrated. Despite all efforts, we do not yet know whether SMS embedded in regular diabetes care is effective for patients and no further investments are currently being made in SMS care..

The lessons

In a consultation in which patients expected medically-oriented diabetes care from experience, the psychosocial problems that patients indicated on paper and were now asked out by the practice nurse, insufficient above the table. Patients were not prepared for more in-depth questions outside of standard diabetes care. We learned the important lesson from this that patients should also have been prepared for the change in care.

Author: Anneke van Dijk, Maastricht University

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