Doctoral student examines diabetes self-management guidelines in study

Bernard Appiah, M.S., a doctoral student at the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) School of Rural Public Health, recently co-authored an article in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine (JABFM).

“Challenges and Opportunities for Implementing Diabetes Self-Management Guidelines” was published online in the January-February 2013 Issue, Vol. 26 No. 1, of JABFM. This article examined primary care providers’ perceived challenges when implementing self-management guidelines, as well as the most productive method for ensuring patients adhere to them.

“These guidelines often are based on the chronic care model, which emphasizes the importance of coordinating medical care with patient self-management,” said Appiah and other co-authors. “Despite the existence of such guidelines and evidence of the significant improvement of patient outcomes as a result of implementing these guidelines, research shows that the actual implementation is relatively low or inconsistent.”

The researchers concluded the inclusion of patients, administration and physicians in the design and development of self-management guidelines would improve the implementation of those guidelines in practice.

Additional JABFM study authors included Yan Hong, Ph.D., M.P.H.; Marcia G. Ory, Ph.D., M.P.H.; Janet W. Helduser, M.A.; Dawn Begaye, B.A.; Jane N. Bolin, J.D., Ph.D., RN; and Samuel N. Forjuoh, M.D., Dr.P.H.