340-OR: Supports for Using Retail Pharmacists in Delivering Diabetes Education in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The aim of this program evaluation was to assess the effectiveness of retail pharmacists in providing diabetes education in Saudi Arabia. Following an earlier pilot showing feasibility, the program was expanded to 50 community pharmacies. Joslin Diabetes Center collaborated with Nahdi Medical Company that operates a large network of retail pharmacy chains in Saudi Arabia to offer a diabetes program called “Let’s Talk About Diabetes” (LTAD). Pharmacists identified potential participants as having diabetes by the medication and supplies they purchased and then invited them to join the LTAD program. LTAD consists of four 1:1 educational sessions on topics such as medications, lab results, glucose monitoring, and doctor visits. Each session lasts approximately 20 minutes each, scheduled over a 2-4 month period. The entire program spanned approximately a 4-year period including the pilot. Among the 2066 participants who had paired results at baseline and follow-up, HbA1c improved from 8.5 ±1.6 to 7.6 ±1.5%. This change remained significant (p<0.001) after adjustment for change in diabetes distress, age, gender, diabetes duration, insulin treatment, baseline awareness of HbA1c baseline HbA1c result, and number of sessions participated in. This change was associated with a shift in the proportion of individuals meeting target HbA1c <7.0 from 22% at baseline to 37% at follow (p<0.0001 by McNemar’s test). There were additional significant improvements in exercise, diet, medication adherence, and other diabetes self-care behaviors, attitudes and beliefs, suggesting that retail pharmacists were effective in delivering diabetes education programs in Saudi Arabia. Disclosure Y.Khan: None. S.Turkistani: Employee; Self; Nahdi Medical Company. A.H.Bayoumi: Employee; Self; Al Nahdi Pharmacy. M.J.Mcnamara: None. J.Leblanc: None. D.M.Pober: None. W.C.Hsu: Consultant; Self; Onduo LLC.