Development of the Self-Care Promoting Model for Diabetes Mellitus Patients at Sida Hospital

Abstract

The objectives of this quasi-experimental research were to develop a model that promote self-care for patients with diabetes and assess the effectiveness and patients’ satisfactions of the developed model. The samples were 80 uncontrolled diabetes mellitus patients with no complication from Sida hospital, Nakhon Ratchasima. The samples were divided into 2 groups: intervention and control groups, with 40 participants in each group. The intervention group participated in the activities in the model that promote self-care for patients with diabetes. (Activities included doctors’ assessment, problems identification, treatments, medications, patient’s education and evaluation of patients’ self-care behaviors, telephone or line application follow-ups 15 days after visits, medication adjustments, and home visits to help patients with uncontrolled blood sugar.) The control group received regular services for diabetes patients. (Activities included doctor’s assessments and treatments and advices according to individual conditions.) Research tools were the developed model for uncontrolled diabetes mellitus patients, pre- and post-tests, and blood sugar level records. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Independent t-tests and Paired sample t-tests.

Results showed that diabetes mellitus patients in the intervention group had significantly higher knowledge and self-care behavior levels with lower blood sugar levels when comparing between pre- and post-intervention (p-value<0.001). When comparing between intervention and control groups, it was found that the intervention group had significantly higher knowledge and behavior levels (p-value<0.001). Evaluation of satisfaction among patients from the intervention group showed a high satisfaction level (85.0%). It was recommended to adapt this model in other hospitals in caring for diabetes patients.