Empathy-focused Calls Boost Diabetes Self-Care

Medscape January 9, 2025
Edited by Manasi Talwadekar

TOPLINE:

Empathetic telephone calls by laypeople may improve glycemic control in patients with uncontrolled diabetes and low income, particularly in those with subclinical depressive symptoms.

METHODOLOGY:

• Managing diabetes is especially challenging for low-income patients, in part due to associated emotional distress and mental health decline, but limited health care touchpoints exist to support the necessary lifestyle changes to improve disease management.
• Researchers conducted a parallel-arm superiority trial to assess the impact of layperson-delivered empathetic engagement over the telephone in 260 patients with uncontrolled diabetes (mean age, 49.5 years; 62.9% women; 49.3% White individuals, 78.5% Hispanic or Latino individuals; A1c ≥ 8%; 86.7% with income below $40,000) recruited from a health center in Texas from February 2022 to April 2023.
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