{"id":47714,"date":"2017-10-15T06:19:05","date_gmt":"2017-10-15T10:19:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=47714"},"modified":"2017-10-15T06:19:15","modified_gmt":"2017-10-15T10:19:15","slug":"digital-health-education-works-so-why-arent-we-investing-in-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=47714","title":{"rendered":"Digital Health Education Works. So Why Aren\u2019t We Investing In It?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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One third<\/a> of adults in the U.S. live with one or more chronic illnesses. Conditions they need to take care of themselves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Approximately 71%<\/a> of U.S. healthcare dollars is spent on people who have more than one chronic condition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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As people acquire more chronic conditions their risk of dying prematurely, being hospitalized and\/or receiving conflicting information that leads to negative consequences increases.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The power of the internet to upend this scenario is immense. We have the power to educate tens of millions of people how to take care of themselves and give them much needed support.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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That would mean: 1) Improving people\u2019s quality of life, more years of productivity and longer lifespans, and healthier families 2) Enabling people who live in remote areas and smaller cities and towns, without ample health professionals, to stay well and\/or avoid heart-breaking, unnecessary decline and 3) Reduce our nation\u2019s skyrocketing healthcare costs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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We value education for our children, yet not our adults who live with illness. Can we shift, societally, to appreciate the value of health education and invest in it?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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To better understand the power and potential of health education off-line and on, I spoke with an academic pioneer in the field and a CEO working to bring digital disease-management to the masses.<\/p>\n

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DrPH Lorig, RN. Co-author of Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions PHOTO COURTESY OF KATE LORIG<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Three decades ago Kate Lorig<\/a>, DrPH, while at Stanford University, designed the first-of-its-kind health education program, the Chronic Disease Self Management Program <\/em>(CDSMP). Its uniqueness lay in the fact that it doesn\u2019t cover a single condition, it covers five: arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, depression and pain. Lorig saw what was beginning: people living with more than one chronic condition.<\/p>\n

\"Digital
The Chronic Disease Self-Management Program. Peer-led community class.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Today three out of four<\/a> Americans over sixty-five manage multiple conditions<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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Lorig then created the Diabetes Self-Management Program <\/em>for people with type two diabetes. Both programs\u2019 main feature – the interaction of participants in small group, community-based classes – was always thought to be a primary reason why the programs work. Today the programs are offered through the Self-Management Resource Center<\/a> (SMRC).<\/p>\n

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Bringing education online<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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After years of work by Lorig and the Stanford team to develop an initial online version, Adam Kaufman, CEO of Canary Health<\/a>, brought the programs to scale through Better Choices, Better Health – <\/em>keeping the success factors of the small group classes in the foreground and the technology in the background.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This distinguishes Canary Health\u2019s disease- and lifestyle-management courses from other digital programs. It\u2019s also already made Kaufman\u2019s young company a leader in digital health education and self-management support.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Study results<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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In America more than 100 million<\/a> people have diabetes or pre-diabetes and more than 133 million<\/a> people have one or more chronic illnesses. That\u2019s 40 percent of the country in need of health education and support.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Canary Health wants to fill that need. Kaufman shared the results of a Stanford-led twelve month, peer-review study<\/a> conducted last year. The study showed Better Choices, Better Health<\/em> – Diabetes<\/em> lowered blood sugar, A1c values and hypoglycemia, increased medication adherence and exercise participation and improved depression – similar to that of the offline classes.<\/p>\n

This largest study of its kind, with 1300 diverse individuals, showed the diabetes program works online as well as it does face-to-face.<\/p>\n

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Lorig, who led the study admitted, \u201cFrankly I was surprised. We really didn\u2019t know what the outcome would be taking the classes online.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The science and art of health education<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Multiple studies show online health education is beneficial, and, that it\u2019s also a future we are slow to embrace. Medscape\u2019s, \u201cPatients Learn Chronic Disease Self-Management Online<\/a>\u201c cites the future of medicine is management of chronic disease… and… internet-based social support makes even novice internet users feel more supported and able than programs without a chat room.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Better Choices, Better Health <\/em>programs, like the face-to-face classes, are six weeks long and share the same content through guided lessons with two peer-coaches. Participants create action plans based on what\u2019s important to them and receive support from their coaches and fellow participants. People also benefit from the group support experience participants in classes enjoy by actively posting questions, concerns, experiences, feelings and advice on discussion boards and in group chats.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n