Technologically Enhanced Coaching: A Program to Improve Diabetes Outcomes

All participants will be assigned to a peer coach, who is a Detroit VA diabetes patient who previously had poor glycemic control but is currently in good control. Participants will receive information on their lab and blood pressure values and will be scheduled for an initial visit with their coach. The coach will then help them list questions and concerns they wish to discuss with their health care provider, practice raising their questions and concerns, and develop an action plan to address barriers to self-management they have identified. During the next six months, coaches will call their assigned peers once a week to provide support for their action steps.

The iDecide tool is designed to present key tailored, evidence-based information on diabetes and diabetes treatments. Importantly for a peer support intervention, all content information will be provided through the tool, with the role of the peer mentor being to assist the participant to go through the program and participate in helping the patient formulate questions and concerns to discuss with their health care provider, to set their own behavioral goals and action steps, and to help the participant practice raising the issues they plan to discuss with their health care provider.