Engaging Veterans and Family Supporters in PACT to Improve Diabetes Management
Overview
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Intervention
- Not specified
- Conditions
- Diabetes
- Sponsor
- VA Office of Research and Development
- Enrollment
- 478
- Locations
- 2
- Primary Endpoint
- Change in Patient Activation, as Measured by Patient Activation Measure - 13
- Status
- Completed
- Last Updated
- 4 years ago
Overview
Brief Summary
This trial will compare two methods of increasing engagement in care and success in diabetes management, among patients with diabetes with high-risk features, who also have family members involved in their care.
Detailed Description
Background: Veterans with diabetes must control cardiovascular risk factors in order to prevent disabling and life-threatening complications. However, despite system wide advances in diabetes quality of care, over 30% of VHA patients with diabetes continue to have uncontrolled blood pressure, hyperglycemia, or hyperlipidemia. The nationwide VA PACT (Patient-Aligned Care Teams) initiative seeks to provide patients comprehensive, team-based support for following diabetes care regimens. PACT's success, however, hinges on its ability to effectively engage patients in care. One relatively untapped resource for supporting engagement in PACT is patients' family and friends. Three out of four adults with diabetes reach out to an unpaid family member or friend (a 'Care Partner') for ongoing help with diabetes management. These supporters help patients with medication adherence, tracking home glucose measurements, maintaining a healthy eating plan, and often accompany patients to their medical visits. However, while PACT emphasizes the importance of family members as part of the care team, PACT does not have formal mechanisms to involve health supporters in PACT care. Health supporters report that, in order to be more effective, they need more information on patient's medical care plans, clear channels for communicating with PACT team members, and information on navigating PACT resources. Objectives: The overall objective of this randomized trial is to test a strategy to strengthen the capacity of supporters to help patients with high-risk diabetes engage in PACT care and successfully enact care plans. The central hypothesis is that providing health care engagement tools to both Care Partners and patients will increase patient activation and improve management of diabetes complication risks. Methods: This is a randomized controlled trial evaluating an intervention (Caring Others Increasing EngageMent in PACT, or CO-IMPACT) designed to structure and facilitate health supporter involvement in PACT so that patients can become more actively engaged in PACT care. 240 patients with diabetes receiving PACT primary care who: 1) are at high risk for diabetes complications due to hyperglycemia OR high blood pressure and 2) have a health supporter involved in their care will be recruited along with their health supporter. Patient-supporter dyads are randomized to the CO-IMPACT intervention or usual PACT care for high-risk diabetes, for 12 months. The intervention provides patient-supporter dyads: one coaching session on action planning, communicating with providers, navigation skills and support skills; preparation by phone before patients' primary care visits; after-visit summaries by mail; and biweekly automated phone calls to prompt action on new patient health concerns. CO-IMPACT builds on medical record-integrated patient activation tools in the PACT toolkit and is designed to be implementable within existing PACT nurse encounters. Primary outcomes for this study include a validated measure of patient activation (Patient Activation Measure-13) and a cardiac event 5-year risk score designed for patients with diabetes (UKPDS Risk Engine). Secondary outcomes include patients' self-efficacy for diabetes self-care; diabetes self-management behaviors including medication adherence; diabetes distress; and glycemic and blood pressure control. Measures among supporters include supporter activation, use of effective support techniques, distress about patient's diabetes care, and caregiver burden. We are also measuring patient-supporter and patient-provider relationship quality, patient safety (e.g. hypoglycemia), utilization, potential moderators of intervention effect such as patient health literacy level, and facilitators and barriers to wider implementation.
Investigators
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- •Patient Inclusion Criteria:
- •Provide signed and dated informed consent form
- •Plan to be be available for the duration of the study
- •Male or female, age 30-70 years old
- •Plan to get most diabetes care at recruiting VA primary care clinic over the subsequent 12 months
- •Able to use telephone to respond to bi-weekly automated Interactive Voice Response (IVR) calls
- •Be able to identify an adult family member or friend who is regularly involved in their health management or health care (involved with medications, managing sugars, coming to appointments, etc)
- •Have a diagnosis of diabetes and be at high-risk for diabetes complications, defined as: (1) a diagnosis of diabetes based on encounter diagnoses from 1 inpatient or 2 outpatient encounters (OR a diabetes medication (at least one \>3 month prescription from VA drug classes HS501 (insulin) or HS502, other than metformin), (2) have an assigned VAprimary care provider and at least 2 visits to VA primary care in the previous 12 months, (3) poor glycemic control (last HbA1C within 9 months \>8%) OR poor blood pressure control (last BP 160/100 or mean 6 month BP \>150/90)
- •Care Partner Inclusion Criteria:
- •21 years old or older
Exclusion Criteria
- •Patient Exclusion Criteria:
- •Expect to have \>1 month gap in VA care in the 12 months following enrollment (e.g. snowbird travel).
- •Plan to receive the majority of their care for diabetes mainly from a non-Primary Care provider in the 12 months following enrollment
- •Have a VA resident/trainee as their main primary care provider
- •Live in a nursing home OR assisted living
- •Have significant cognitive impairment as measured by an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease or dementia, or a score of \<4 on the Callahan screener to identify cognitive impairment
- •Need help with more than two basic activities of daily living (ADLs) as measured by the Katz Basic Activities of Daily Living Scale
- •Do not speak English
- •Have a life-limiting severe illness (such as stage renal disease \[ESRD\] requiring dialysis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) requiring oxygen, cancer undergoing active treatment, receiving palliative/hospice care)
- •Are concurrently enrolled in another research study or clinical program, at time of enrollment, that could conflict with the current study's protocol (e.g. another diabetes management research intervention, or VA tele-buddy program involving frequent phone calls)
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Change in Patient Activation, as Measured by Patient Activation Measure - 13
Time Frame: Baseline to 12 months
Patient Activation Measure-13. Range of potential values (0,100), higher scores mean a better outcome, Outcome is the participant's difference in the measure between baseline and 12 months, among patient participants
Change in Cardiac Event 5-year Risk Score, as Measured by UKPDS Risk Engine
Time Frame: Baseline to 12 months
UKPDS Risk Engine, among patient participants only, range is 0 to 100% risk of cardiac event over the next 5 years. Lower score equals a better outcome. Outcome is the participant's difference in the measure between baseline and 12 months.
Secondary Outcomes
- Change in Systolic Blood Pressure(Baseline to 12 months)
- Change in Supporter Use of Autonomy-Supportive Communication(Baseline to 12 months)
- Change in Diabetes Self-Management Behavior - Check Feet(Baseline to 12 months)
- Change in Diabetes Self-Management Behavior - Take Oral Meds as Prescribed(Baseline to 12 months)
- Change in Smoking Status(Baseline to 12 months)
- Change in Diabetes Self-Management Behavior - Healthy Eating(Baseline to 12 months)
- Change in Diabetes Distress(Baseline to 12 months)
- Change in Activation in Health Encounters(Baseline to 12 months)
- Change in Non-Fasting Lipid Levels(Baseline to 12 months)
- Change in Patient Satisfaction With Healthcare System Support for Family Supporter(Baseline to 12 months)
- Change in Diabetes Self-Management Behavior - Blood Sugar Home Testing(Baseline to 12 months)
- Change in Diabetes Self-Management Behavior - Take Insulin as Prescribed(Baseline to 12 months)
- Change in Glycemic Control(Baseline to 12 months)
- Change in Diabetes Self-Management Behavior - Physical Activity(Baseline to 12 months)
- Change in Diabetes Self-Management Behavior - Blood Pressure Home Testing(Baseline to 12 months)