The Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers has recently been awarded this Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant to study the impact of community health workers in improving diabetes care.  In collaboration with the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, the League will address the following research question.

Ethnic disparities in diabetes complications can be reduced or mostly eliminated through equalization of glycemic control among ethnic groups. This project will assess the impact of training and employing community health workers embedded in community health centers to assist patients in efforts to improve glycemic control. Community health workers will receive training based upon the Care Model, specifically focusing on diabetes. The Care Model has been shown to have modest effects in chronic illness management, including self-management for patients living with diabetes.  In this proposed 24-month study, we will link traditional health care providers with community health workers who will work with patients at participating health centers to increase patients’ self-management of diabetes, to establish linkages to community resources available to people living with diabetes, to support patients’ abilities in building relationships with health care professionals, and ultimately, to improve glycemic control and reduce complications of diabetes.

For more information, please contact:

• Joan Pernice [jpernice@massleague.org]

• Lee Hargraves [lee.hargraves@umassmed.edu]

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