Originally posted by Sandy Keefe, MSN, RN, for Advance for Physical Therapy & Rehab Medicine on August 27, 2012
Diabetes management is a complex process, requiring collaboration between clients and healthcare professionals. When those clients face significant obstacles in their lives, disease management becomes even more challenging.
A recently Adult Day Health Council (ADHC) Research Collaborative Diabetes Management Study, for example, focused on intensive interdisciplinary care led by nurse case managers made a difference in the lives of clients from 10 Adult Day Health Care Centers in New York City, upstate New York and Buffalo.
The centers serve primarily low income individuals with low health literacy and significantly restricted access to healthcare. The year-long study of 104 clients focused on the ABCs of diabetes management: A1C blood tests that identified blood glucose control, blood pressure control and cholesterol management.
“These are complex clients with multiple comorbidities. Similar cohorts of Medicare recipients who have five or more chronic illnesses experience as many 10 hospitalizations per year. [But] clients who attend the ADHC medical model have a much lower rate of hospitalization, despite a large percent also being afflicted with cognitive impairment or depression,” explained Kathleen Falk, MSC, FNP, assistant professor at New York City College of Technology and chairperson of the ADHC study.
“It’s important to identify how we can best use our nursing resources to help them stay in the community with support,” Falk emphasized. “To control their A1C levels is a very significant accomplishment.”
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