The Article in Brief

Home-Based, Peer-Led Chronic Illness Self-Management Training: Findings From a 1-Year Randomized Controlled Trial

Anthony Jerant , and colleagues

Background Previous research suggests that peer-led self-management training improves chronic illness outcomes by strengthening patients' confidence to manage their illness. This study tests the effectiveness of an in-home self-management program for chronically ill patients.

What This Study Found Compared with usual care, a chronic disease self-management program delivered in the home led to more effective illness self-management at 6 weeks and at 6 months but not at 1 year. Neither the in-home program nor a similar program delivered by phone had significant effects on overall mental and physical health or on use of health care resources.

Implications

• Peer-led chronic illness self-management programs appear to result in small to moderate, short-term effects on health outcomes, with no apparent effect on overall mental or physical health or health care expenditures.
• These findings challenge previous suggestions that wider use of peer-led illness self-management programs would be cost-effective.