Addressing Basic Needs to Improve Diabetes Outcomes in Medicaid Beneficiaries

Navigators will help participants address unmet basic needs for 6 months by telephone. Either party can initiate a call. On every call, navigators will: (1) review unmet needs previously reported (baseline survey for first call) and ask participants to report new needs; (2) jointly prioritize among multiple needs based on severity and resource availability; (3) identify community resources that could help solve the problem; (4) evaluate eligibility for those resources; and (5) prepare participants to interact with service agencies and/or act as an advocate on their behalf. On each subsequent call, navigators will review progress toward resolving those needs, assess emergent needs, and adapt priorities accordingly. Navigators will provide instrumental and emotional social support through regular friendly contact, and will attempt to reduce barriers to needs resolution to improve stability and security for participants longer-term.