TEAMcare for Diabetes in Mental Health Centers

TEAMcare is an evidence-based collaborative care approach to the treatment of diabetes and psychiatric illness. It involves structured visits with a study nurse to monitor psychiatric symptoms, control of medical disease, and self-care activities. The nurses use motivational coaching to help patients solve problems and set goals for improved self-care and medication adherence. Medications for diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia are monitored and therapy intensified based on treat-to-target guidelines. All of these process and outcome measures are tracked in a registry designed for the study, and the nurses receive weekly supervision with a psychiatrist, an endocrinologist and a psychologist in order to review new cases and to track progress. Once a patient achieves targeted levels for relevant measures, the patient and the nurse develop a maintenance plan.