TELEPHONE-BASED MONITORING: AN EDUCATIONAL STRATEGY FOR DIABETES SELF-CARE AT THE PRIMARY HEALTH CARE LEVEL

Abstract

Objective: to describe the experience of telephone-based monitoring as an educational strategy to teach selfcare to people with diabetes at the primary health care level. Material and method: This descriptive study was performed with 115 clients with diabetes who had a landline telephone at home and were being followed in a primary health care educational program in 2010. The telephone interviews were performed following a semistructured script. Results: From the 115 interviewed clients, 44.8% were physically active and 58.3% followed a diet. In both groups, most of those engaged in physical activity reported walking. Basically the same percentage was found for male and female clients who followed their diet (60.0% and 57.9%, respectively). Conclusion: Monitoring allowed reinforcing communication and the information required for the education of clients with diabetes, it strengthened the bond between clients and professionals, and permitted the professionals to intervene on the difficulties that the clients presented regarding their management of the diseases, in a fast and effective way