• Dale F Kraemer, Wayne A Kradjan, Theresa M Bianco, and Judi A Low.
• Department of Pharmacy Practice, Oregon State University/Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), Portland, OR, USA. Dale.Kraemer@Jax.UFL.edu
• J Pharm Pract. 2012 Apr 1; 25 (2): 169-79.

ObjectiveTo assess the impact of pharmacist counseling on empowering people with diabetes to better self-care.IntroductionCommunity-based pharmacists can play a key role in educating and empowering people in such programs.MethodsA randomized trial compared the effects of pharmacist counseling (intervention group) with printed materials (control group) in diabetic beneficiaries of several employer-based health care plans. All participants also received waiver of out-of-pocket expenses for diabetic-related medications and supplies. Clinical, humanistic, and claim outcomes were evaluated at baseline and at 1 year follow-up.ResultsSixty-seven beneficiaries participated in this study. The 0.50% decrease from baseline in glycosylated hemoglobin (A1c) was statistically significant (P = .0008) in the intervention group and the difference between the groups approached statistical significance (P = .076). Beneficiaries in both groups had greater claim costs for diabetic-related medications and supplies during the study year. Both groups also improved in ability to manage their diabetes with the counseling group showing a significantly better understanding of diabetes (P = .0024).ConclusionThere was a trend toward improvement in A1c in patients counseled by pharmacist with an increased utilization of diabetes-related medications and supplies. Counseling also improved diabetes knowledge and empowered patients to better diabetes management.

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