Interventions were generally effective on behavior change and patients ’ glycemic control in the short term ( ≤9 months ) .
Conclusions The limited studies available suggest that diabetes self-management education programs in developing countries are effective in the short term but must be tailored to conform to the cultural aspects of the target population
Purpose Although self-management education is a key factor in the care for diabetes patients , its implementation in developing countries is not well documented .
This systematic review considers the published literature on diabetes self-management education in high and low mortality developing countries .
The aim is to provide a state of the art of current practice s and assess program outcomes , cultural sensitivity , and accessibility to low literate patients .
Enhancing the effectiveness of diabetes self-management education: the diabetes literacy project.
Patient empowerment through self-management education is central to improving the quality of diabetes care and preventing Type 2 Diabetes .  Although national programs exist , there is no EU-wide strategy for diabetes self-management education , and patients with limited literacy face barriers to effective self-management . The Diabetes Literacy project , initiated with the support of the European Commission , aims to fill this gap . The project investigates the effectiveness of diabetes self-management education , targeting people with or at risk of Type 2 Diabetes in the 28 EU Member States , as part of a comprehensive EU-wide diabetes strategy . National diabetes strategies in the EU , US , Taiwan , and Israel are compared , and diabetes self-management programs inventorized . The costs of the diabetes care pathway are assessed on a per person basis at national level . A comparison is made of the (cost)-effectiveness of different methods for diabetes self-management support , and the moderating role of health literacy , organization of the health services , and implementation fidelity of education programs are considered . Web-based material s are developed and evaluated by r and omized trials to evaluate if interactive internet delivery can enhance self-management support for people with lower levels of health literacy . The 3-year project started in December 2012 . Several literature review s have been produced and protocol development and research design are in the final stages . Primary and secondary data collection and analysis take place in 2014 . The results will inform policy decisions on improving the prevention , treatment , and care for persons with diabetes across literacy levels
Interventions were generally effective on behavior change and patients ’ glycemic control in the short term ( ≤9 months ) .
Conclusions The limited studies available suggest that diabetes self-management education programs in developing countries are effective in the short term but must be tailored to conform to the cultural aspects of the target population
Purpose Although self-management education is a key factor in the care for diabetes patients , its implementation in developing countries is not well documented .
This systematic review considers the published literature on diabetes self-management education in high and low mortality developing countries .
The aim is to provide a state of the art of current practice s and assess program outcomes , cultural sensitivity , and accessibility to low literate patients .