Systematic Medical Assessment, Referral and Treatment for Diabetes care using Lay Family Health Promoters - SMART Diabetes

Background

The health system infrastructure in China was struggling to meet the gaps in diabetes care and management and innovative solutions were needed. The aim of the SMART Diabetes project was to incorporate state-of-the-art mobile technology to improve self-management support and build the capacity of family members to provide high-quality diabetes care for their family members with T2DM at home. An interactive mobile health management system can support lay family health promoters and healthcare staff to improve clinical outcomes for family members with T2DM and this system was considered to be affordable, acceptable and potentially scalable across China.

Aims

Primary research aim
To develop the SMART Diabetes system and determine its clinical impact for people with T2DM.

Secondary research aims
To conduct process and economic evaluations to understand intervention impact on patients, family health promoters (FHPs) and staff, and to determine cost-effectiveness and scale-up opportunities.

Project plan

Following development of the intervention, the team aimed to carry out a large-scale cluster randomised controlled trial conducted across 40 communities in Chaoyang District, Beijing and 40 communities in Changan District, Shijiazhuang.

Impact

The project demonstrated that use of lay family health promoters to deliver an intervention to tackle type 2 diabetes led to improvements in HBA1C and blood pressure. The team noted significant differences between rural and urban contexts.

Publications and output

To access publications and other outputs relating to this project, see our publications webpage and our case study.

GACD have also published an end-of-programme report, providing a comprehensive summary of the programme and outcomes. More information about the Diabetes report is available here.

You can also visit the SMARTHealth-Diabetes project website for more information.

This project has a related case study Transforming diabetes management in China through mobile health.

Principal investigators

David Peiris The George Institute for Global Health, Australia
Puhong Zhang, The George Institute for Global Health, China
Weigang Zhao Peking Union Medical College Hospital, China

Team members

Beverley Essue Menzies Centre for Health Policy, Australia
Stephen Jan The George Institute for Global Health, Australia
Linong Ji Peking University People’s Hospital, China
Sun Lei The George Institute for Global Health, China
Zhenyu Liang Chinese Center for Disease Prevention and Contro, China
Yu Liu School of Computer Science and Engineering of Beihang University, China
Serigne Lo The George Institute for Global Health, Australia
Anushka Patel The George Institute for Global Health, Australia
Maoyi Tian The George Institute for Global Health, China
Junfeng Xu Beijing Municipal Health Bureau, China