Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-21-2024
Manuscript Version
vor
Abstract
Purpose of Review: To review randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published from 2021–2023 that reported the effects of peer support interventions on outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Recent Findings: Literature searches yielded 137 articles and nine RCTs were ultimately reviewed. The reviewed trials involved in-person support groups, peer coach/mentor support, cultural peer support by community health workers, peer support during shared medical appointments (SMAs) including virtual reality-based SMAs, telehealth-facilitated programs, and telephone peer support. Most interventions combined two or more peer support strategies. Peer support was associated with significant decreases in HbA1c in 6 of the 9 reviewed studies. The largest statistically significant improvements in HbA1c were reported in a study of community health workers in Asia (-2.7% at 12 months) and a Canadian study in which trained volunteer peer coaches with T2DM met with participants once and subsequently made weekly or biweekly phone calls to them (-1.35% at 12 months). Systolic blood pressure was significantly improved in 3 of 9 studies. Summary: The findings suggest that peer support can be beneficial to glycemic control and blood pressure in T2DM patients. Studies of peer support embedded within SMAs resulted in significant reductions in HbA1c and suggest that linkages between healthcare systems, providers, and peer support programs may enhance T2DM outcomes.
Keywords
community health workers, HbA1c, m-Health, peer coaches, peer support, type 2 diabetes
Publication Title
Current Cardiovascular Risk Reports
Rights
© The Author(s) 2024. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Werner, J.J., Ufholz, K. & Yamajala, P. Recent Findings on the Effectiveness of Peer Support for Patients with Type 2 Diabetes. Curr Cardiovasc Risk Rep 18, 65–79 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12170-024-00737-6