Stage of change advancement for diabetes self-management behaviors and glucose control.

Purpose: This study was conducted to evaluate whether patients with type 2 diabetes who participated in diabetes education advanced through stages of change for self-management behaviors and to determine if movement was related to glucose control.

Methods: A cohort of 428 patients with type 2 diabetes participated in a traditional diabetes education program in a large urban center in the Southwest. The sample was predominantly female with less than a high school education, a mean age of 52 years, and a mean duration of diabetes of 7 years.

Continuity and quality of care in type 2 diabetes: a Residency Research Network of South Texas study.

Objective: We investigated the relationship between continuity of care and the quality of care received by patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Study Design: We used a cross-sectional patient survey and medical record review.

Population: Consecutive patients with an established diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus presented to 1 of 6 clinics within the Residency Research Network of South Texas, a network of 6 family practice residencies affiliated with the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Geography and geographic information systems in family medicine research.

Understanding spatial relationships between determinants and outcomes of health care is important as the concept of population-based health care gains acceptance. A wide range of tools for understanding these spatial relationships is available to the family medicine researcher through the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The power of GIS lies in its ability to display the spatial distribution of a health-related predictor or outcome.

Curricular change: recommendations from a national perspective.

Recommendations on future directions, funding, and organizational and curricular issues have emerged from the complexity of the Interdisciplinary Generalist Curriculum (IGC) Project. For example, future demonstration projects aimed at innovations in medical education that are funded through the contracting mechanism are recommended, and funding intended to serve as institutional leverage for demonstrating desired curricular innovations in medical education is encouraged. Funding provided to entities that can maximize influence within the institutions is recommended.