The Article in Brief
Health Coaching by Medical Assistants to Improve Control of Diabetes, Hypertension, and Hyperlipidemia in Low-Income Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Rachel Willard-Grace , and colleagues
Background Health coaching can give people with chronic illnesses the knowledge, skills, and confidence to manage their conditions. This study tests the effectiveness of health coaching by medical assistants to improve indicators of health among low-income patients with uncontrolled diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol levels.
What This Study Found Health coaching by medical assistants is a promising way to improve indicators of health for people with common chronic conditions. In this study, almost twice as many patients who received health coaching achieved their diabetes goals. At the larger study site, health coached patients were more likely to achieve their cholesterol goals. There was no significant difference in the proportion of patients meeting their blood pressure goals.
Implications
- Medical assistants can successfully serve as health coaches to improve health indicators for some common chronic conditions.
- The medical assistant health coaching model may help solve barriers of time, resources and cultural concordance faced by many primary care practices seeking to implement self-management support.