Peers for Progress accelerates and promotes best practices in peer support as a regular part of health care and prevention around the world.

At a January 10, 2012 forum sponsored by Health Affairs, Edwin B. Fisher, PhD, global director of the Peers for Progress program, presented findings detailing the impact of peer support programs in helping people manage diabetes and avoid disease associated disabilities. 

This information was recently published in the January issue of Health Affairs (11-page PDF file; About PDFs). Copyrighted and published by Project HOPE/Health Affairs as [Fisher EB, Boothroyd RI, Coufal MM, Baumann LC, Mbanya JC, Rotheram-Borus MJ, Sanguanprasit B, Tanasugarn C, et al. Peer Support For Self-Management Of Diabetes Improved Outcomes In International Settings, Health Aff (Millwood). 2012, Volume 31, Issue 1, 10 pages]. The published article is archived and available online at www.healthaffairs.org.

Read the press release (3-page PDF file; About PDFs).

• Extending the evidence base for peer support
• Establishing peer support as a core component of diabetes care
• Building a network of programs around the world

Peers for Progress has developed a Guide to Program Development and Management for Peer Support in Health and Health Care which can be found at Peers for Progress (16-page PDF file; About PDFs).

 American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation Peers for Progress Program Receives $5M Grant to Evaluate the Impact of Peer Support for Diabetes in Patient-Centered Medical Home Model of Care

Initiative aims to reduce health disparities in low-income Hispanic populations with diabetes

The five million grant from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation will fund a three-year demonstration project to be administered through the AAFP Foundation Peers for Progress program. The project will be led by Edwin Fisher, PhD, global director for Peers for Progress, with support from Peers for Progress staff based in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Other partners include the National Council of La Raza, the American Academy of Family Physicians and its wholly-owned subsidiary, TransforMED. The partners will collaborate on the development of protocols and training materials for peer and community support, as well as the dissemination of the materials within the targeted communities to address the ongoing management and prevention of diabetes.

Today, type 2 diabetes affects about one in 12 Americans, and could affect as many as one in three Americans by the year 2050. The disease disproportionately affects the poor and elderly, as well as certain minority populations including African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and Asian Americans. This Peers for Progress initiative will reach approximately 4,000 low-income, Hispanic adults who have type 2 diabetes.

“Patients with chronic disease do much better when their health care is centered in a trusted relationship with a primary care physician supported by an effective health care team,” said Richard Roberts, MD, JD, president of the AAFP Foundation. “That trusted relationship is optimized in medical practices that have adopted the patient-centered medical home model of care.”