title: Implementing a chronic disease self-management program into china: the happy life club™.
abstract: China is experiencing population aging, increased prevalence of chronic diseases, and reductions in the frequency of healthy lifestyle behaviors. In response to these significant transitions, China is implementing major reforms in health care services with a focus on strengthening primary health care. In this paper, we describe a 12-month diabetes management program, the Happy Life Club™ (HLC™), implemented in a primary health care setting in Beijing, that uses doctor and nurse health coaches trained in behavior change techniques and motivational interviewing (MI). This paper reports the results of this pilot study and discusses issues involved in the implementation of Chronic Diseases Self-Management Programs in China. The intervention group showed improvements in HbA1c levels at 6 months and both the control and intervention groups showed reductions in waist circumference over time. Systolic blood pressure improved over time in the intervention group. The intervention group showed improvement in quality of life across the intervention period and both groups showed decreases in psychological distress across the intervention. Doctor visits increased between baseline and 6 months, but there was no change in doctor visits between 6 and 12 months for both groups. The effects were modest, and further investigations are required to evaluate the long-term impact of health coach approaches in China.
authors.affiliation: Royal District Nursing Service Institute , St Kilda, VIC , Australia ; School of Primary Health Care, Monash University School of Primary Health Care, Monash University , Melbourne, VIC , Australia.
authors.forename: Colette Joy
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Browning
authors.affiliation: School of Primary Health Care, Monash University School of Primary Health Care, Monash University , Melbourne, VIC , Australia.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Ageing and Health Services, Department of Global Health, Peking University , Beijing , China.
authors.forename: Tuohong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Primary Health Care, Monash University School of Primary Health Care, Monash University , Melbourne, VIC , Australia.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Medicine and Management, School of Public Health, Peking University , Beijing , China.
authors.forename: Shuo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: School of Primary Health Care, Monash University School of Primary Health Care, Monash University , Melbourne, VIC , Australia.
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Enticott
authors.affiliation: School of Primary Health Care, Monash University School of Primary Health Care, Monash University , Melbourne, VIC , Australia ; The University of Adelaide , Adelaide, SA , Australia.
authors.forename: Shane Andrew
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Thomas
keywords: China; chronic disease self-management; diabetes; motivational interviewing; older people