NCT01156974

Care Guides in the Primary Care Office (Phase II)

Care Guides: Can Trained Laypersons Help Manage Chronic Disease? A Randomized Trial.

• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 2
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 2,135 (actual)
• Sponsor: Allina Health System · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 79 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Trained lay persons ("care guides") working with chronic disease patients and their providers can help outpatients with diabetes, hypertension, and congestive heart failure achieve standard clinical care goals

Detailed description

In a randomized parallel group multi-site trial looking at achievement of standard recommended treatment goals at baseline and one year later by 2135 patients with diabetes, hypertension, and congestive heart failure, we tested the hypothesis that adding a lay person with brief training to usual care would improve clinical outcomes. These "care guides" were culturally matched to patients served, similar to community health workers, but were located in 6 diverse primary care health clinics where they could meet patients face-to-face. They were asked to assist communication in both directions between providers and patients, taking advantage of their status as non-authority figures. They were given two weeks' training about these diseases and behavior change theory. This intervention was designed to be low cost, easy to implement, and to integrate into rather than change clinic work flow.

Conditions

• Diabetes
• Hypertension
• Congestive Heart Failure

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	education and care guide	Patients receive education about care goals, and in-person and telephone counseling of unspecified frequency over one year to achieve goals
BEHAVIORAL	education only	patients receive education about care goals

Timeline

• Start date: 2010-07-01
• Primary completion: 2012-04-01
• Completion: 2012-04-01
• First posted: 2010-07-05
• Last updated: 2019-04-08

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States