Evaluation of diabetes health education in a health maintenance organization

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of an interdisciplinary team diabetes health education program provided in a health maintenance organization. A pretest-posttest, non-equivalent control group, quasi-experimental design was employed. A dietary education group was used as a control. The total number of participants in the study was 56; 35 in the experimental group and 21 in the control group. Three test instruments were constructed and existing physiologic measures were used. The tests were administered to gather pre-postprogram data in order to assess change in knowledge/attitudes, metabolic control, weight loss, and frequency of health-care facility utilization. One instrument was used to gather postprogram data to ascertain whether self-management behaviors were sustained over a four month period. (See more in text.)