Chronic Disease Management Class Empowers Patients to Take Control of Their Health

SALUD participants and MAPPR Team Members at one of the "Tomando Control de Su Salud" sessions

Patients at a clinic in Charlotte are taking control of their own health, with some guidance from MAPPR and other medical workers.  UNC School of Medicine student, MAPPR team member, and Schweizter Fellow Rebecca Flint developed a program called SALUD (Support and Awareness for Latinos Undertaking Disease management).   Flint, who is leading the project, created it as part of her year-long Schweitzer Fellowship.  With the help of Research Coordinator Brisa Hernandez, SALUD is being implemented at Our Lady of Guadalupe health clinic.  The program is targeted at Spanish speaking, uninsured adults with chronic illnesses including diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and/or obesity.    Participants are taught ways to take an active role in improving their health and the steps they can initiate to achieve personal fitness goals. 

The first 6-week series is entitled “Tomando Control de Su Salud (Taking Control of Your Health)”, and participants get to hear from trained health care leaders about topics like diet, nutrition and personal health.  The patients work together to set personal goals, support each other and share their experiences.  Medical workers use in-depth surveys and various medical evaluations and tests to assess progress being made, and provide further guidance. 

Thus far, the program seems to be a success.  Not only are the patients gaining knowledge on methods to progress towards their goals, but they have built relationships that support their efforts to stay healthy.

“They are striving for the good not only of themselves, but their families, the fellow participants, and their community as a whole,” says Rebecca Flint.  “They are taking a chance at making change in the face of so many barriers and the potential for failure.  But it is the love, compassion and joy that they share with the group that pushes them to succeed.”

Participation in the classes has also improved access to healthcare overall – as patients get to work with medical staff and clinicians.  For more information on SALUD, please contact Rebecca Flint at rebecca_flint@med.unc.edu.

MAPPR Presents Research at PBRN 2015

In an oral presentation at PBRN 2015, the facilitators of ADAPT-NC shared their experiences working on the state-wide asthma dissemination project.  From left:  Lori Hendrickson (PCRC), Kelly Reeves (MAPPR), Paul Bray (Vidant), Jennifer Rees (NCnet), Lindsay Kuhn (MAPPR), and Jacquie Halladay (NCnet).

The MAPPR research team attended the annual Practice Based Research Network Conference (PBRN) hosted by the  North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG) from June 29-30, 2015.  NAPCRG is a multidisciplinary organization for primary care researchers, and this conference provides a forum for presenting new knowledge to guide improvement, redesign, and transformation of primary care.  Researchers from PBRNs across North America come together to share strategies, methods and results.  The theme of this year’s conference was “Engagement”, and the research presented was designed to enhance the capacity of those attending to successfully engage their practices, patients, providers, and community stakeholders in research. 

Much of the research done by MAPPR concerning Shared Decision Making (SDM) was a perfect fit for the theme of the conference.  Shared Decision Making allows the patient to take an active part in their own treatment, and MAPPR team members have developed a SDM toolkit that has successfully reduced hospitalizations for patients with asthma. 

Other MAPPR Research described how an awareness of cultural differences can improve a researcher’s ability to engage various segments of the population, specifically African-Americans and immigrants.  Techniques such as the use of health coaches to facilitate IT-enabled virtual care visits were also discussed.

Overall, MAPPR team members presented five lectures and another five research posters during the two-day conference.   In addition to providing a chance to share our work, the conference provides an invaluable opportunity to hear what others in practice-based research are doing and learn from their experiences.