Characteristics of organizational resources and supports for self management in primary care

Purpose The purpose of this article is to describe components of organizational support for self-management in primary care and provide illustrations of each of these components from the Diabetes Initiative's Advancing Diabetes Self Management (ADSM) projects. Methods Elements of organizational resources and supports for diabetes self-management in primary care were developed from the experience of the ADSM projects and in collaboration with Diabetes Initiative staff and experts. Results Eight elements of organizational support for self-management were identified: (1) the establishment of patient care teams. (2) continuity of care, (3) coordination of referrals, (4) documentation of self-management support, (5) ongoing quality improvement, (6) patient input (7) staff training and education, and (8) integration of self-managament into primary care. Conclusion Establishing a comprehensive system of care for people with diabetes is enabled by an infrastruture of organizational resources and supports for self-management in primary care settings. These components of organizational support provide guidance for integrating diabetes self-management services into primary care settings.