This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Integrative health coaching improves medication adherence, psychosocial measures in type 2 diabetes
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Internal motivation is targeted and behavior change is supported with integrative health coaching for patients with diabetes, and according to researchers, integrative health coaching may improve results for medication adherence.
Ruth Q. Wolever, PhD, of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee, and Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, and Mark H. Dreusicke, a medical student at Duke University School of Medicine, evaluated 56 adults (mean age, 53 years; 76.8% women) with type 2 diabetes treated with oral medications for at least 1 year who received 14 coaching calls over the phone for 6 months to determine whether integrative health coaching improved medication adherence, HbA1c and psychosocial measures. Researchers also sought to determine whether the changes were maintained after the intervention.
The medication possession ratio was greater during the intervention (P = .001) and after the intervention (P = .011) compared with before the intervention, suggesting better medication adherence during and after the intervention.
Researchers measured HbA1c at baseline and after the intervention and found that HbA1c decreased from 8% to 7.7%, and there was an increase in the proportion of participants with HbA1c of less than 7%.
After the intervention, participants had decreased perceived barriers to medication adherence (P = .001), improved self-reported medication adherence (P < .001), increased patient activation (P < .001), improved mood (P = .01), decreased perceived stress (P = .013), improved overall morale regarding having diabetes (P < .001) and greater social support (P = .001).
“[Integrative health coaching] supports oral medication adherence for patients with diabetes during coaching, and afterward,” the researchers wrote. “Helping patients gain insight into their personal behavior using self-determined goals may uncover internal motivation and link it to behavior skills necessary to increase medication adherence. Personalized treatment strategies are necessary, and further studies should assess which aspects of coaching are particularly helpful for which individual patients.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts