University/community partnership to improve the lives of people with diabetes

Initially diabetes educators in collaboration with university faculty provided community education to people with diabetes and their families in small groups as a recruitment strategy for the research component. Following the educational program participants were offered the opportunity to work with a student trained as a coach. The student was expected to provide support, encouragement, and additional education to promote specific client-identified behavior change using telephone support after one face-to-face meeting. To evaluate the effectiveness of student coaching in promoting healthy behavior change, clients and coaches came to a videotaped focus group discussion of the coaching experience at the end of the semester. Most clients reported some success in behavior change and an increased confidence in managing diabetes. Students reported a new appreciation of the challenges of living with a chronic illness that requires vigilant attention to food intake, activity, medication, blood glucose monitoring, and foot inspection to prevent complications. They also developed an appreciation of the stages of behavior change and the role of support to foster behavior change. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd