CARIDIAB. Guiding and supporting national quality improvement initiatives for diabetes in less well-served parts of the world: a proof-of-concept project in the Caribbean. Part of the Caribbean Chronic Care Collaborative (CCCC).

The CCM is being implemented in 10 Caribbean countries (142 centers providing care for more than 40 000 patients). The objective of Caribbean Quality of Diabetes Care Improvement Project is to strengthen the capacity of health systems and competencies of the workforce for the integrated management of chronic diseases and their risk factors. The project promotes the integrated management of chronic diseases with a preventive focus, based on equity, the participation of the individual, his or her family, and the community.

The evaluation of this demonstration project included 1,060 patients with diabetes using the Chronic Care Passport at the first level of care in eight countries. Preliminary results are promising. Comparing baseline to follow-up measures revealed an important decrease in mean HbA1c (8.3% to7.6%). There was also a substantial increase in the proportion of patients with a preventive practice, such as nutritional advice (12% to 52%), foot exam (28% to 68%), or eye exam (21% to 61%). Overall the proportion of patients meeting three or more quality-of-care indicators increased from 12% to 56%.

Participating Countries from the English-Speaking Caribbean: Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, Barbados, Belize, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Project Goal: To improve the quality of life of people with diabetes.

Project Objective: Achieve real and sustained improvement in the quality of diabetes care and outcomes in 10 Caribbean countries.