The "Motorola Communicators" Diabetes Support Group was formed to educate and empower individuals to better meet their self-care needs in relations to management of Diabetes.  This low-cost program resulted in a 1627.3% reduction in absenteeism for support group members.  Motorola is the first and only company in the State of Arizona with membership in the American Diabetes Association and the only company to establish an official on-site support group. 

The American Diabetes Association recognized Motorola for its contributions to assisting employees in diabetes management.  Employees express enthusiasm for the meetings and appreciation for the increased knowledge and confidence.  Nurses state they see many members of the group demonstrating less anger, helplessness or confusion and projecting more determination, resilience, and confidence. 

The evaluation of support group effectiveness focused on 3 questions: 

1.  Would absenteeism decrease by the completion of the second year? 
2.  Would productivity improve by the completion of the second year? 
3.  Would support group members report improvement in knowledge levels, body weight and blood sugar levels at the completion of the second year? 

Seventy-four individuals attended anywhere from 1 to 10 of the total 11 sessions.  Evaluation consisted of single group retrospective design.  Because group participation included family members, retirees, and Motorolans from other sites, only records of Motorolans who were employed at the Phoenix site for the entire two-year period were reviewed to evaluate impact on absenteeism and productivity.  Data were not available for employees working at other sites, it would not be relevant for family members who themselves were not Diabetic, and if an employee retired or transferred during the study period they would not have complete data available so they were not included in evaluation of the first two questions.  Thirty-nine employees were employed at the support group site for the entire two-year period. 

Absenteeism and productivity were tabulated by manual review of each member’s medical record.  Days missed from work due to Diabetic problems or complications secondary to Diabetes were totaled.  Attendance records prior to the implementation of the support group were not reviewed as the attendance policy changed due to the introduction of the Family Medical Leave Act, and to include prior record review could contaminate data.  Baseline data was collected during the first year the group was formed. 

Productivity was measured by counting each time an employee came to Health Resources requesting evaluation and/or treatment during work hours for a complaint related to Diabetes or a complication secondary to Diabetes.  Such visits, while appropriate and encouraged, do represent lost productivity since employees are away from their work station.  Duration of such visits may be anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour or possibly more if paramedics are called.  Visits were tallied at the ordinal level with each visit counted as one incident.  Evaluation of medical claims data would have aided in evaluation but a process to access specific data was not available.  Efforts are underway to provide access to that information in the future.  Savings per participant would have been higher had that data been retrievable. 

Question three was evaluated by self-report on a written questionnaire.  The questionnaire was reviewed for content validity by a Certified Nurse Diabetic Educator who is the current President of the Arizona Association of Certified Diabetic Educators.  Revisions were made based upon her suggestions prior to distribution. 

The questionnaires were mailed to participants who are themselves Diabetic.  Fifty-one questionnaires were mailed at the end of the second year.  Of the 51 questionnaires distributed, 14 were returned for a response rate of 27%.  (Refer to Documentation for copy of questionnaire.) 

The support group has been promoted though the Sector Newspaper, SPS Today, through the Hope Newsletter, Vital Signs, which contains a customized page to address key issues and events a the Phoenix site and through departmental communication meetings, but primarily group participation has grown through direct promotion from nurses and current participants to prospective participants.  Participants attend generally on their own time, and there is no monetary or other incentive to attend.  (Modest door prizes are given at many meetings, but employees get no other external reward.) 

Results have been beyond our expectations.  Four participants have severe Diabetic problems and complications, with extensive surgeries for their secondary complications and unrelenting progression of their complications.  We were realistic to recognize that a support group would not likely have any impact for these individuals.  We continue to encourage these employees to participate, but we felt that including their data in evaluation of questions 1 and 2 would skew the results.  That was in fact the case, but complete data is reported here to demonstrate total impact. 

In the first year of the support group, the 39 employees had a total of 266 absences related to Diabetes and its secondary complications.  The second year the group had 434 absences.  However, if the group results exclude the 4 employees with very extensive problems the results are 179 absences in the first year which then drop to 11 absences a the end of the second year!  This constitutes a delta of 168 and represents an improvement of 1627.3%.  Although this is a small group and only represents data collection of two years, we are all very excited and encouraged. 

Productivity results show 11 visits to Health Resources total for the 39 employees in the first year and 19 visits in the second.  If the visits of the 4 employees with extensive complications are removed, the results become 7 visits in the first year and 13 visits in the second.  This does show an increase in visits which indicates productivity decreased.  In fact, visits to Health Resources increased by 85.7%.  However, we attribute the increase to the fact that the group took far fewer days off from work.  In the past they may have simply stayed home rather than work with assistance, support and encouragement.  Decreased productivity is more that off-set by the improvement in absenteeism.  Sixteen of the 39 employees display improvement in absenteeism and/or productivity. 

As for question 3, respondents indicated that the information gained from the group helps them manage their Diabetes.  Four respondents indicate the information is "pretty much" helpful and 7 state it is "very" helpful.  Six members said before attending the group they knew either "nothing" or "very little" about caring for their Diabetes.  When asked what their blood sugar is presently and what it was 1 year ago, by self-report 6 respondents indicated improvement, 3 were worse and 1 was unchanged, but the aggregate numbers improved by 347 points.  Likewise, weight compared to a year ago by self-report 6 people stated they lost weight, 5 people gained and 1 remained unchanged.  Aggregate weights improved by a net loss of 65 pounds. 

We recognize our group has only been meeting two years and the size of the group is small, but we are enthusiastic about the results.  The data reinforce our subjective impressions that the support group is having an impact for the people who attend.  The low cost of the group demonstrates that with minimal investment, wellness interventions can have significant influence on health risks and self-care in chronic disease, as well as produce financial impact.  These data suggest that a corporate sponsored Diabetes Support may be warranted and a chronic disease management program will be recommended to the corporate benefits office.  We would be happy to discuss our experiences with others.  Our data can be shared in aggregate form to protect individual confidentiality.