Recent Findings on the Effectiveness of Peer Support for Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Purpose of Review To review randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published from 2021-2023 that reported the effects of peer support interventions on outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM).Recent Findings Literature searches yielded 137 articles and nine RCTs were ultimately reviewed. The reviewed trials involved in-person support groups, peer coach/mentor support, cultural peer support by community health workers, peer support during shared medical appointments (SMAs) including virtual reality-based SMAs, telehealth-facilitated programs, and telephone peer support. Most interventions combined two or more peer support strategies. Peer support was associated with significant decreases in HbA1c in 6 of the 9 reviewed studies. The largest statistically significant improvements in HbA1c were reported in a study of community health workers in Asia (-2.7% at 12 months) and a Canadian study in which trained volunteer peer coaches with T2DM met with participants once and subsequently made weekly or biweekly phone calls to them (-1.35% at 12 months). Systolic blood pressure was significantly improved in 3 of 9 studies.Recent Findings Literature searches yielded 137 articles and nine RCTs were ultimately reviewed. The reviewed trials involved in-person support groups, peer coach/mentor support, cultural peer support by community health workers, peer support during shared medical appointments (SMAs) including virtual reality-based SMAs, telehealth-facilitated programs, and telephone peer support. Most interventions combined two or more peer support strategies. Peer support was associated with significant decreases in HbA1c in 6 of the 9 reviewed studies. The largest statistically significant improvements in HbA1c were reported in a study of community health workers in Asia (-2.7% at 12 months) and a Canadian study in which trained volunteer peer coaches with T2DM met with participants once and subsequently made weekly or biweekly phone calls to them (-1.35% at 12 months). Systolic blood pressure was significantly improved in 3 of 9 studies.Summary The findings suggest that peer support can be beneficial to glycemic control and blood pressure in T2DM patients. Studies of peer support embedded within SMAs resulted in significant reductions in HbA1c and suggest that linkages between healthcare systems, providers, and peer support programs may enhance T2DM outcomes.