A Quasi-experimental study on the effectiveness of primary caregiver social support capacity on self-management practices of clients living with type II diabetes in Machakos county, Kenya

Background: Diabetes is a fast-growing public health emergency, projected to affect 643 million people by 2045. While primary caregiver social support can influence the self-management practices of Type 2 diabetes (T2D) clients, there's often limited capacity to provide it. The study determined the effectiveness of enhanced caregivers' social support capacity on self-management practices of T2D clients in Machakos. Methods: A six-month quasi-experimental study design that adopted quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis approaches. Primary caregivers at the Matungulu intervention site were trained on T2D self-management and types of social support, with no intervention conducted at the Masinga control site. Results: Over 90% of the 227 primary caregivers were female, with a mean age of 43.28, supporting approximately three T2D clients each. Post-intervention, a 27.2% change in capacity to identify all T2D self-management practices was noted compared to a 7.6% change in the control group. The greatest contribution was in the primary caregivers' ability to provide tangible, followed by emotional and informational social support, resulting in a statistically significant improvement in the self-management practices in the intervention site, B=0.140 (95% CI: 0.072, 0.208), t=4.046, p<0.001. Consequently, the difference in blood glucose levels was statistically significant, crude OR=3.213 [95% CI: 2.039, 5.063], p<0.001. Conclusions: Enhanced capacity to provide social support positively correlates with the T2D clients' self-management practices. Further investigation of factors that hinder the full realization of primary caregiver social support capacity benefits in improving self-management capacities among T2D clients is recommended.