Activating Patients for Sustained Chronic Disease Self-Management

• Published in: Journal of primary care & community health Vol. 7; no. 2; pp. 107 - 112
• Main Authors: Dye, Cheryl J, Williams, Joel E, Evatt, Janet H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thousand Oaks SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC 01.04.2016; SAGE Publishing
• Subjects: Chronic illnesses; Cognitive-behavioral factors; Community-based programs; Competence; Exercise; Habits; Health behavior; Health promotion; Health services; Healthy food; Hypertension; Lifestyles; Psychosocial factors; Selfmanagement; Support groups; Volunteers; Walls
• ISSN: 2150-1319; 2150-1327
• DOI: 10.1177/2150131915626562

This article describes the impact of an 8-week community program implemented by trained volunteers on the hypertension self-management of 185 patients who were batch randomized to intervention or wait-list control groups. Compared with control group participants, a higher proportion of treatment group participants moved from the cognitive to behavioral stages of motivational readiness for being physically active (P < .001), practicing healthy eating habits (P = .001), handling stress well (P = .001), and living an overall healthy lifestyle (P = .003). They also demonstrated a greater average increase in perceived competence for self-management, F(1.134) = 4.957, P = .028, η2 = .036, and a greater increase in mean hypertension-related knowledge, F(1.160) = 16.571, P < .0005, η2 = .094. Enduring lifestyle changes necessary for chronic disease self-management require that psychosocial determinants of health behavior are instilled, which is typically beyond standard medical practice. We recommend peer-led, community-based programs as a complement to clinical care and support the increasing health system interest in promoting population health beyond clinical walls.