# Using Peer Mentors to Support PACT Team Efforts to Improve Diabetes Control

> **NIH VA I01** · PHILADELPHIA VA MEDICAL CENTER · 2021 · —

## Abstract

Background: Using peer mentors to support health-related behavior change may be particularly effective in a
VA setting where many patients lack social support on the one hand, but have latent bonds because of shared
or similar veteran experiences. The research team has demonstrated that peer mentoring can help African
American veterans with hard-to-manage diabetes mellitus improve their glucose control in the short term;
however, it is unknown if demonstrated improvements in glucose control persist once mentoring stops and how
to best sustain such programs. These are essential questions to address in order to successfully build a
generalizable and scalable peer mentor program. This work will build on past and ongoing work with the aim of
creating evidence based, low-cost, easy-to-implement peer-mentoring programs that can sustainably support
VA PACT efforts.
Objectives: The current application seeks to: 1. Test the effectiveness of a self-sustaining peer-mentoring
program that trains former peer mentees to be peer mentors to support health-related behavior change in
diabetic veterans with poor diabetes control; 2. Assess the effects of becoming a mentor on those who were
originally mentees given a growing literature that being a mentor is good for your health; 3. Conduct a rigorous
qualitative evaluation examining in-depth the mentor-mentee relationship, the transition to becoming a mentor,
and exploring factors relevant to broader program implementation; and 4. Work with a local community based
out-patients clinic (CBOC) to implement a peer mentoring program of this nature and perform a formative
evaluation of the process.
Methods: This study will employ mixed methods. The study will include a randomized controlled trial with two
arms: 1. usual care; and 2. peer mentoring where the mentoring comes from former mentees. To understand
the impact of being a mentor, potential mentors will also be randomized such that half will become a mentor
and half will not. The intervention will be implemented over six months and participants will be followed for an
additional twelve months to determine whether effects persist. The outcomes to be assessed include, for both
mentees and mentors, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), blood pressure (BP), low-density lipoprotein (LDL)
levels, diabetes quality of life, and depression scores at 6 and 12 months derived from in-person evaluations.
Eighteen month assessments will only be of HbA1c, BP, and LDL levels and will be derived from the electronic
medical record (EMR). Combined with a process and formative evaluation using in-depth qualitative interviews
the study will inform future large scale program implementation.
Impacts: Supporting health related behavior change is difficult, frequently costly, and time intensive. As we
move toward patient centered care with patient aligned care teams (PACT) it is essential that we find low cost,
culturally competent ways to assist our patients outside of the clinical encounter. ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 8836417
- **Project number:** 5I01HX001149-02
- **Recipient organization:** PHILADELPHIA VA MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** JUDITH A LONG
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2014-04-01 → 2018-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8836417

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 8836417, Using Peer Mentors to Support PACT Team Efforts to Improve Diabetes Control (5I01HX001149-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-01 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/8836417. Licensed CC0.

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