School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, New South Wales, Australia.
School of Health Science, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown Campus, New South Wales, Australia.
Health Soc Care Community. 2022 Nov;30(6):e4051-e4064. doi: 10.1111/hsc.13798. Epub 2022 Mar 22.
Peer support programmes have been shown to facilitate diabetes prevention and improvements in diabetes self-management. Worldwide, few studies have qualitatively evaluated peer support programs in inner-regional (semi-rural) areas, and none involving mixtures of people with and without diabetes. This study researched an inner-regional peer support programme underway over 2 years in Australia. Fifteen participants, including ten peers and five peer support facilitators (PSFs) were interviewed using semi-structured focus group and one-to-one interviews with the aim of understanding their perceptions and experiences of the programme, barriers, and ways of overcoming barriers. Participants were those with and without diabetes. The main themes identified were; benefits of the programme, factors affecting recruitment and retention, challenges and barriers to programme participation, PSF reflections on peer support training, and recommendations to improve the programme. Participants identified increased knowledge of diet, diabetes and complications as key benefits, with greater social support and well-being the main reasons for initial participation. The main challenges for the programme were the lack of wide community engagement before setting up the peer groups, difficulty with peer recruitment and personal difficulties in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The peer support programme was well received within an inner-regional area and was perceived as useful in providing support and motivation to make lifestyle behavioural changes from shared experiences with peers. Whilst considered beneficial to those with and without diabetes, ways of overcoming identified challenges are required.
同伴支持计划已被证明可以促进糖尿病预防和改善糖尿病自我管理。在全球范围内，很少有研究从定性角度评估过内陆地区（半农村地区）的同伴支持计划，也没有涉及有和没有糖尿病的人混合参与的情况。本研究调查了澳大利亚一个内陆地区正在进行的为期两年的同伴支持计划。研究采用半结构化焦点小组和一对一访谈的方式采访了 15 名参与者，包括 10 名同伴和 5 名同伴支持协调员（PSF），目的是了解他们对该计划的看法和经验、障碍以及克服障碍的方法。参与者包括有和没有糖尿病的人。确定的主要主题是：计划的益处、影响招募和保留的因素、计划参与的挑战和障碍、PSF 对同伴支持培训的反思以及改进计划的建议。参与者确定增加对饮食、糖尿病和并发症的了解是主要益处，而获得更多的社会支持和幸福感是最初参与的主要原因。该计划面临的主要挑战是在设立同伴小组之前缺乏广泛的社区参与、招募同伴的困难以及个人在保持健康生活方式方面的困难。该同伴支持计划在一个内陆地区受到欢迎，被认为在提供支持和激励方面非常有用，可以通过与同伴分享经验来促使生活方式发生行为改变。虽然被认为对有和没有糖尿病的人都有益，但需要克服已确定的挑战。
