The effectiveness of a community-orientated model of primary care for type 2 diabetes compared to standard care

African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine

 
 
Field Value
 
Title The effectiveness of a community-orientated model of primary care for type 2 diabetes compared to standard care
 
Creator Pillay, Shivani Pather, Michael K.
 
Subject Family medicine; general practice; rural health; rural medicine; primary care; primary health care community-orientated primary care; effectiveness; diabetes; community; primary care.
Description Background: Non-communicable diseases constitute the primary cause of mortality in South Africa, surpassing infectious diseases. Among these, diabetes mellitus is the second leading cause of death. Although local literature on community-orientated primary care (COPC) remains limited, international evidence supports its effectiveness.Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a COPC model for adults with type 2 diabetes compared to the standard facility model of care.Setting: The Chiawelo COPC (Chiawelo Community Practice) and Chiawelo Community Health Centre (CHC) in Soweto, South Africa.Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted. File records of adults with type 2 diabetes from both models of care were examined for patients’ glycaemic control and clinicians’ adherence to evidence-based diabetes standards of care.Results: Chiawelo COPC (CCP) outperformed the CHC over the investigation period. Mean patient HbA1c at Chiawelo COPC (CCP) was lower than the CHC (7.9%, 8.9%; p  0.001). Body mass index (BMI) (75%, 36%; p  0.001), urine tests (74%, 42%; p  0.001) and renal function assessments (95%, 80%; p  0.05) showed superior results at the COPC practice. Differences were observed in examinations of feet (61%, 1%; p  0.001) and eyes (38%, 1%; p  0.001). Adherence discussions were more frequent at COPC (63%, 48%; p  0.05).Conclusion: The COPC model is more effective than the standard facility-based model in managing type 2 diabetes in the Chiawelo community, Soweto.Contribution: This study contributes to understanding the effectiveness of a COPC model for diabetes care in a South African community.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor Department of Family and Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University
Date 2025-10-03
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Cross-sectional observational study
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/phcfm.v17i1.4912
 
Source African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine; Vol 17, No 1 (2025); 12 pages 2071-2936 2071-2928
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/4912/8710 https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/4912/8711 https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/4912/8712 https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/4912/8713
 
Coverage Soweto, Gauteng, South Africa September 2024 Adults 18 years and older
Rights Copyright (c) 2025 Shivani Pillay, Michael K. Pather https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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