bridge this gap as they are usually engaged in social benefits for
patients rather than direct provision of care. That might explain
why this programme demonstrated a significant lowering of
HbA1c (nearly 1%), while the meta-analysis of self management
programmes of type 2 DM by Norris found only limited
evidence of lowering of HbA1c,9 with 0.36% improvement
found in the recent meta-analysis by Minet et al.
24