623-P: Phone-Based Diabetes Education Improves Diabetes Knowledge and Patient–Provider Conversations

Abstract

Diabetes education and support has been shown to effectively improve health outcomes among people with type 2 diabetes (PWD). However, PWD report limited time with healthcare providers (HCPs) to have meaningful discussions about diabetes management and prevention of complications. Less than half of PWD have ever had a conversation with their HCP about their increased risk for heart attack and stroke. In addition, evidenced-based diabetes self-management education and support programs (DSMES) are considerably underutilized. A phone-based education series was created to connect PWD across the country with a new diabetes expert each month. Through the platform, listeners can ask their questions, hear the questions of others, and receive live responses. The program aims to increase knowledge of diabetes management, improve patient-provider conversations, and drive enrollment into DSMES. To assess the program’s impact, phone-based surveys were conducted one day prior to events, immediately following, and one-month post events. From November 2018 to November 2019, each event averaged 509 participants, with over 2,700 unique participants across all events. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were performed to determine paired differences. Across events, diabetes-related knowledge increased 12% on average from before events to after events. Within a month following the program, 14% more participants had a conversation with their HCPs about the link between heart disease and diabetes. In addition, the percent of participants who enrolled in DSMES increased 10%. The evidence demonstrates that a phone-based platform provides an effective avenue for increasing diabetes knowledge and empowering PWD to have better conversations with their HCPs. The platform can serve as an important resource for reaching populations that face barriers in access to diabetes care and support. Short recordings from the live events are created into a free podcast series, further expanding program reach. Disclosure R. Woolley: Employee; Self; American Diabetes Association. Z. White: Employee; Self; American Diabetes Association. S. Robinson: Employee; Self; American Diabetes Association. J. Mandelson: Employee; Self; American Diabetes Association. K. Mueller: None.