Multilingual link workers enhance diabetes care of patients in South Asian communities
Diabetes management for patients of South Asian ethnicity may be improved by using Asian link workers and additional diabetes specialist nurses, a new study suggests.
Six general practices in the West Midlands with a high proportion of
South Asian patients with type-2 diabetes were randomised to standard
practice diabetes care or “enhanced care”.
Both groups were encouraged to follow the same treatment protocols, but
in the enhanced care group multilingual Asian link workers attended weekly
diabetes clinics to help with interpretation. The link workers also contacted
patients before appointments to encourage clinic attendance and organised
educational sessions. A community specialist diabetes nurse provided
extra support and education to the enhanced care group. The control group
managed its patients using existing practice resources.
At a one year follow-up patients in the enhanced care group had a mean
reduction in systolic blood pressure of 6.7mmHg compared with 2.1mmHg
in the standard care group. There was no significant difference in cholesterol
or HbA1c levels between the groups.
The researchers say that combining Asian link workers and specialised
diabetes nurses with standard treatment protocols might help reach targets
set in the national service frameworks for diabetes management. However,
improvement in glycaemic control may require longer-term or different
strategies, and the costs and sustainability of these initiatives needs
to be studied (Diabetic Medicine 2004;21:1357).
John Foreman, consultant pharmacist at Green Light Pharmacy, Euston,
commented: “This study is an example of a culturally tailored service
that follows a concordance model of service provision. Every culture
has folk models of health belief. The link workers in this study would
take these beliefs into account and understand the misconceptions this
community may have.”
Green Light Pharmacy has been involved in providing
tailored services to the local Bangladeshi population (PJ, 21 July 2001, p77).
|
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
Acrobat
Reader