2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

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Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

317997
Testing the Effects of the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) on Employment Outcomes for Lower-Wage Workers


Tuesday, November 3, 2015 : 3:15 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Shawn M. Kneipp, PhD, School of Nursing, The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Laura Linnan, ScD, Department of Health Behavior, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Justin Trogdon, PhD, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Ziya Gizlice, PhD, Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Mary Grace Flaherty, PhD, School of Information and Library Science, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Matthew Lee Smith, PhD, MPH, CHES, Department of Health Promotion and Behavior, Workplace Health Group, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Cecilia Gonzales, UNC-CH Center for Health Promotion & Disease Prevention; School of Nursing, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Lindsey Horrell, RN, BSN, School of Nursing, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Audio (mp3) recording Recorded Presentation (mp4)
Background: The challenges of living and maintaining employment with a chronic health condition are intensified for lower-wage workers, who bear the majority of chronic disease burden in the U.S. workforce.  Over time, functional decline from poorly managed chronic disease interferes with employment performance – which can lead to job loss, recurrent unemployment, and further economic instability of this already vulnerable population. The CDSMP has been shown to improve health-related outcomes, and may improve employment outcomes, as well, but it has not widely reached this population, and its effects on work productivity remain unknown. 

Methods:  We describe a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded randomized controlled trial (RCT) currently underway to test the effect of the CDSMP on employment productivity and health-related outcomes among 592 lower-wage workers aged 40-64 years. The study is being conducted in three North Carolina counties in conjunction with a wide array of community partners.

Results:  Key features of the community partnerships involved, social marketing and study recruitment efforts to reach this population, and preliminary findings of participant demographic, health, and employment-related characteristics among those enrolled to date will be described.  

Conclusions:  Testing the effects of the CDSMP among lower-wage workers has the potential to reduce the chronic disease burden in this group, and benefit the healthcare system as well as employers.  Public health nurses are playing a critical role in conducting the studies needed to improve chronic disease self-management, and are well positioned to extend the CDSMP to socioeconomically vulnerable populations in their communities.

Learning Areas:

Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Chronic disease management and prevention
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Provision of health care to the public
Public health or related nursing
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Describe the background and development of the CDSMP. Compare differences in the morbidity burden from chronic disease between lower-wage workers and other sectors of the workforce. Discuss how community engagement is critical to the study's success.

Keyword(s): Chronic Disease Management and Care, Health Disparities/Inequities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the principal investigator of the study.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4357.0: Public Health Nursing Research