| Description |
The Pilot Clinic delivered five interactive counseling sessions to a group of seven patients diagnosed with Metabolic Syndrome (MS); a support person or partner was strongly encouraged to accompany the patient to each session. The educational materials focused on pathophysiology, disease comorbidities, benefits of therapeutic life-style modifications, basic understanding of lab values, and medications used to treat MS. Each patient completed a nutrition and physical activity self-assessment to evaluate their home and work environment with the goal of recognizing habits in need of change, and adopting permanent behavior modification habits. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that one third of Americans meet the criteria for being diagnosed with MS, with minorities and those aged 60 years and older being at the highest risk (Davila et al., 2012). Diabetes and cardiovascular disease are among the most common comorbidities that develop as a result of MS; consequently, patients experience an increase in morbidity and mortality. Care for these patients increases the medical costs of our nation. Objectives for this project include: Assessment of patient knowledge about MS, and exploration of home/work environment to identify individual needs. Teach MS disease process, healthy nutrition, adequate physical activity, basic lab interpretation, and pharmacology review. Identify community resources that will provide patient support once the group sessions are completed. Patient evaluation of the effectiveness of group sessions via questionnaire, and suggestions for future educational session. The gold standard approach to deliver behavior modification interventions in primary care settings is intensive face to face counseling by trained lifestyle counselors. Unfortunately, this approach has not been integrated into daily clinical practice due to its labor intense and costly nature. Evidence-based research shows that a more viable approach to manage MS in the clinical settings is the use of group counseling or educational sessions; this effective model allows clinicians to provide thorough patient education, foster peer support, and self-management, which leads to improved knowledge, and behavior change (Greer & Hill, 2011, p. 76). The implementation process of the MS pilot clinic took place over five consecutive Saturdays form 2/2/13 to 3/2/13 at a Family Practice clinic in Ogden, UT. Evaluation of the counseling sessions was completed via patient questionnaire; all patients unanimously found group sessions effective and educational, and would recommend others with MS to attend similar future counseling sessions. |
