Stanford Self-Management Programs
In the past 20 years or so, the Stanford Patient Education Research Center (formerly the Stanford Arthritis Center Education Office) has developed, tested, and evaluated self-management programs for people with chronic health problems. Our first program was the Arthritis Self-Managment Course (also known as the Arthritis Self-Help Workshop), which became the prototype for all our self-managment programs. All of our programs are designed to help people gain self-confidence in their ability to control their symptoms and how their health problems affect their lives. Our small-group workshops are generally 6 weeks long, meeting once a week for about 2 hours, which are led by a pair of lay leaders with health problems of their own. The meetings are highly interactive, focusing on building skills, sharing experiences and support.
Once we develop a program, we evaluate its effectiveness through a randomized, controlled trial, which is 2-4 years in length. It is ONLY after a program has been shown to be safe and effective through these trials that we release it for dissemination.
In addition to programs developed at tested at Stanford, a Chronic Pain Self-Management Program was developed and tested in Canada with close collaboration with Stanford. Stanford holds the copyright for the CPSMP, and the program is currently available.
Completed Research Projects
The Arthritis Self-Management Program
Our first patient education program was the Arthritis Self-Management Program. It is the prototype for all our subsequent programs. The program is offered in the community for 2 hours per week, once a week for 6 weeks. Groups are limited to 16 in order to facilitate sharing and problem-solving. The program is offered throughout the U.S. by the Arthritis Foundation as the Arthritis Self-Help Course. It has also been offered in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, China, Scandinavia and St. Lucia.
The Chronic Disease Self-Management Program
The Chronic Disease Self-Management Program is a workshop where people with different chronic diseases attend together. It teaches the skills needed in the day-to-day management of treatment and to maintain and/or increase life’s activities. The Program has been adopted by such groups as the National Health Service of England, the Diabetes Society of British Columbia in Canada, Kaiser Permanente, and Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound. It has been translated into Arabic, French, Chinese, Vietnamese, Norwegian, Somali, Bengali, Dutch, German, Hindi, Korean, Welsh, and Italian. The patient book is available in French, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
Self-Management @ Stanford: Healthier Living With Ongoing Health Problems (Internet)
This randomized, controlled research project is the Internet version of the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program. Like the community-based program, it gives participants skills needed to manage their chronic diseases and the impact on their lives through highly interactive activities facilitated by pairs of peer moderators. The National Council on Aging has licensed the program in the United States.
The Diabetes Self-Management Program
The Diabetes Self-Management Program is a workshop for people with type 2 diabetes. It teaches the skills needed in the day-to-day management of diabeetes and to maintain and/or increase life’s activities. Originally developed and evaluated in Spanish, it was translated into English and tested in a randomized, controlled study.
The Positive Self-Management Program
The Positive Self-Management Program is a workshop for people with HIV. Programs are usually held in community settings such as senior centers, churches, libraries, and hospitals. Workshops are facilitated by two trained leaders, one or both of whom are non-health professionals with HIV. Subjects covered during the small group meetings include: how to best integrate medication regimens into daily life, techniques for dealing with difficult emotions, exercise, nutrition, communication skills, evaluating symptoms and treatments.
The Back Pain Self-Management Program
This program was developed with Group Health Co-operative of Puget Sound. It is a 4-week community-based program modeled after the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program. It is currently being revised.
Programa de Manejo Personal de la Artritis (Spanish)
This is the Spanish version of the Arthritis Self-Management Program. It was developed in Spanish and culturally adapted for the Latino community. The program is currently being used by some U.S. Arthritis Foundation chapters.
Tomando Control de su Salud (Spanish)
This is the Spanish version of the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program that was designed in Spanish for Spanish-speakers. Though similar to the English version, it was developed to be culturally appropriate. The program is currently being used in California, New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico.
Tomando Control de su Diabetes (Spanish)
The randomized, controlled research study of this program began in Fall 2002 and is complete. The program was developed and piloted in Spanish and is modeled after the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program. The study also tested the usefulness of automated telephone reinforcement in the Spanish-speaking population.
The Back Pain Internet Education Program (Internet)
Our first project on the Internet consisted of a simple email discussion group moderated by health professionals, along with The Back Pain Helpbook and a video tape about managing back pain. The study concluded in mid-2002.
Self-Management @ Stanford: Healthier Living With Arthritis (Internet)
Healthier Living with Arthritis is the internet version of the Arthritis Self-Management Program, It is built on the Healthier Living online model for people with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and fibromyalgia. We have completed this study. The program is offered through Foothill College, a California Community College, and is available to anyone. http://foothillarthritis.stanford.edu.
Current Research
Self-Management @ Stanford: Healthier Living With Diabetes (Internet)
The Online Diabetes Self-Management Program is similar to the Healthier Living online model, but was built from the ground up. We have closed recruitment for this study.
Self-Management @ Stanford: Building Better Caregivers (Internet)
The Building Better Caregivers Program is based on the Healthier Living online model, but was built for the Veterans Administration for caregivers of people with traumatic brain injury, post traumatic stress disorder, and dementia. Either the caregiver or the person being cared for must be a U.S. Veteran. We are currently recruiting for this project.
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