USA: Managing Diabetes with a Phone Call

. SAN FRANCISCO, California / New America Media.org / June 29, 2009 A new tool that can be used in the home could make controlling diabetes, which disproportionately affects under-served and ethnically diverse populations, a lot easier, reports NAM health editor Viji Sundaram. By Viji Sundaram, Health Editor Luis de Jesus, a Spanish-speaking factory worker, says he enjoys a better quality of life now than when he was first diagnosed with diabetes 10 years ago, thanks to having better control over the disease. De Jesus enrolled in a program at San Francisco General Hospital’s (SFGH) Center for Vulnerable Population. The program is specifically tailored for “vulnerable” people like him with poor control of their diabetes and with low incomes. Although DeJesus works two jobs to support himself and his family, he has no health insurance. “I had zero knowledge about how to control or manage diabetes prior to my participation in the project,” the 54-year-old Jesus said through an interpreter. “[The program] was so practical.” Called Improving Diabetes Efforts Across Language and Literacy (IDEALL), the hospital's approach uses simple communication technology to help people manage their diabetes without having to make frequent hospital visits. The IDEALL project team developed an automated telephone support system (ATSM) for diabetes management. The system provides weekly calls in the patient’s native language--English, Spanish or Cantonese--regarding issues ranging from symptoms and taking prescribed medications, to diet, physical activity and self-monitoring of blood sugar. The calls also offer advice about psychological issues and referrals for preventive services. Depending on their automated responses during the call, the patient then receives automated health education messages and a “live” telephone call back from a bilingual nurse care manager. The IDEALL team found that the program could reduce diabetes-related health disparities in vulnerable populations. [rc] Click here to read further Copyright © Pacific News Service