Coaching and Education for Diabetes Distress

Summary

Diabetes distress (DD) is a negative emotional reaction to a diagnosis of diabetes and concerns about the burden of managing diabetes, the risk of complications, and inadequate support system. DD is common among people with diabetes and is strongly associated with poor diabetes self-care and poor diabetes control. Reducing DD should thus be an important component of diabetes management. In line with the growing evidence, the American Diabetes Association now recommends that providers "routinely monitor people with diabetes for diabetes distress, particularly when treatment targets are not met". Despite increased recognition of the need to manage DD, interventions that are both feasible and effective for reducing DD in routine care settings are not yet known. A pilot study showed that health coaching (HC) has some efficacy in addressing DD but no adequately powered study has implemented a pragmatic research design capable of assessing the real-world effectiveness of HC in reducing DD.

This study seeks to assess whether HC effectively reduces DD among primary care patients with diabetes, and whether HC is more effective than an educational program targeting DD. The investigators hypothesize that over a 6-month period, patients with poorly controlled diabetes and DD who enroll in and complete at least five HC sessions will achieve higher and clinically significant reductions in DD and HbA1c, and greater compliance with diabetes self-care recommendations than those who receive only an educational program targeting DD as part of usual diabetes care.

The two-arm randomized controlled trial for patients with poorly-controlled diabetes is taking place at an academic family medicine practice in Houston, Texas. Both arms will receive usual care, which includes education about DD. In addition, the intervention arm will receive eight HC sessions over a five-month period. The primary outcome measure is reduction in DD over a six month period. Additional outcome measures include changes in glycemic control (HbA1C) and self-care practices (medication adherence, dietary, and physical activity behaviors). The study will also measure satisfaction and willingness-to-pay for HC to determine the extent to which HC, if effective for reducing DD, can be operationalized in similar healthcare settings.

Conditions

• Diabetes Distress

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Health coaching

The intervention will seek to help participants express their diabetes emotional needs and to work with them to figure out what can be done to meet those needs. Depending on the unique needs of each participant, the coaching approach for this study will include: improving motivation and self-efficacy for diabetes management using motivational interviewing and appreciative inquiry; building trust and rapport through mindful listening, open-ended inquiry, and perceptive reflections; and expressing empathy through nonviolent communication. Each participant will receive eight individual coaching sessions over a five month period. All coaching sessions will be delivered over the phone (i.e. telecoaching). The coaching intervention will be done by a certified health and wellness coach.

OTHER

Diabetes Distress-specific Education

A diabetes distress-specific education that explains what diabetes distress is, why it matters, and its four domains. In addition, the participant is given feedback on his or her distress score and advised on ways to deal with the areas of greatest distress. Participant is linked with resources to overcome any expressed needs. The education is provided by a trained medical assistant.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Baylor College of Medicine

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Charles Chima · Baylor College of Medicine

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

75 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2018-06-15

Primary Completion

2020-02-25

Completion

2020-09-17

Countries

• United States

Study Locations