Diabetes graphic aids used in counseling improve patient compliance.

This study found that a group of patients with diabetes counseled by a dietitian who used graphic teaching aids complied with health care advice better than did a control group advised by the same counselor without the use of graphic teaching aids. Both groups consisted of private patients in an Illinois clinic referred to the dietitian by their physicians. Group A, whose members received counseling with graphic aids (such items as models and charts of the eye, kidneys, arteries, nerve fibers, fat, and glucose levels), included six female and nine male patients with diabetes. Of them, six were insulin-dependent and nine were not. Group B, whose members received counseling without graphic aids, comprised six female and 7 male patients with diabetes. Of them, five were insulin-dependent, and eight were not. All were seen over a 90-day period. Compliance was assessed in six areas: (a) regular keeping of appointments, (b) decreasing fat consumption, (c) eating meals at regular intervals, (d) controlling portion size, (e) blood-glucose monitoring by patients with insulin-dependent diabetes, and (f) weight-loss by patients with noninsulin-dependent diabetes. Members of Group A, who received counseling accompanied by graphic aids, registered the highest rates of compliance in all six areas.