Diabetes Prevention and Control: Self-Management Education in Community Gathering Places for Adults with Type 2 Diabetes

Task Force Finding*

In this intervention, DSME is provided to people aged 18 years or older in settings other than the home, clinic, school, or worksite (e.g., community centers, faith-based institutions, libraries, or private facilities such as residential cardiovascular risk-reduction centers). Community gathering places have been pursued because traditional clinical settings may not be ideal for DSME of adults, the home setting is conducive only to individual or family teaching, and education at the worksite does not reach those not working outside the home.

On the basis of Community Guide rules of evidence, the Task Force concluded that there is sufficient evidence of effectiveness in improving glycemic control to recommend DSME interventions in community gathering places for adults with Type 2 diabetes. It should be noted, however, that these interventions were rarely coordinated with the patient’s clinical care provider, and the nature and extent of care in the clinical setting was unclear. DSME for adults with Type 2 diabetes delivered in the setting of community gathering places should be coordinated with the person’s primary care provider, and these interventions are not meant to replace education delivered in the clinical setting.

*From the following publication:

Task Force on Community Preventive Services. Recommendations for healthcare system and self-management education interventions to reduce morbidity and mortality from diabetes. [PDF - 67KB] Am J Prev Med 2002;22(4S):10-4.

Review completed: March 2001