Findings in Diabetes Reported from Case Western Reserve University (Content and Outcomes of Social Work Consultation for Patients with Diabetes in…

Findings in Diabetes Reported from Case Western Reserve University (Content and Outcomes of Social Work Consultation for Patients with Diabetes in Primary Care)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Weekly News -- Investigators publish new report on Diabetes. According to news reporting originating from Cleveland, Ohio, by VerticalNews correspondents, research stated, "Social workers are positioned to address social determinants of health (SDHs), but their specific roles in outpatient primary care practice have not been well described. We aimed to describe needs of patients with diabetes addressed during social work (SW) consultations and their impact on disease control."

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from Case Western Reserve University, "This study was a retrospective review of electronic medical records of 977 patients with diabetes with a SW consultation at 3 primary care internal medicine sites in 2014. Diabetes and cardiovascular (CV) risk factor control were assessed before and after the SW encounter. Patient subgroups with uncontrolled diabetes or CV risk factors were compared with propensity-matched patients without a SW encounter. Of the 977 records, 300 were randomly selected for abstraction of needs addressed at the SW consultation using SDH categories established by Wilkinson and Marmot. Patient insurance status included 52% Medicare and 32% Medicaid. The SDHs most often addressed were social gradient (67%; obtaining medications or health insurance) and social support (25%). Among our total population, there were no significant improvements in glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, or body mass index at least 3 months after the first SW consultation. For patients with uncontrolled diabetes (HbA(1c) > 9% or LDL cholesterol > 130 mg/dl), HbA(1c) improved by 1.5 versus 1.1% for matched controls (P = .03) and LDL improved by 37.7 versus 21.3 mg/dl for matched controls (P = .002). In this sample with a preponderance of Medicare and Medicaid patients, social workers most often assisted patients with diabetes in obtaining medications or health insurance."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "For patients with uncontrolled diabetes or cholesterol, a temporal association between SW consultation and improved disease control was noted."

For more information on this research see: Content and Outcomes of Social Work Consultation for Patients with Diabetes in Primary Care. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 2017;30(1):35-43,122-123. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine can be contacted at: Amer Board Family Medicine, 2228 Young Dr, Lexington, KY 40505, USA.

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting A.D. Misra-Hebert, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Clin Lerner Coll Med, Cleveland, OH 44106, United States. Additional authors for this research include M.B. Rothberg, S.L. Rose, A. Brateanu, L. Kou and A.D. Misra-Hebert.

Keywords for this news article include: Cleveland, Ohio, United States, North and Central America, Medicaid, Risk and Prevention, Health Insurance, Health Policy, Medicare, Diabetes, Case Western Reserve University.

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