Background: Rural settings in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) consistently report low participation in non-communicable disease (NCD) treatment programs and poor outcomes.
Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the impact of the implementation of a patient-centered rural NCD care delivery model called Bridging Income Generation through grouP Integrated Care (BIGPIC).
Design: The study prospectively tracked participation and health outcomes for participants in a screening event and compared linkage frequencies to a historical comparison group.
Participants: Rural Kenyan participants attending a voluntary NCD screening event were included within the BIGPIC model of care.
Interventions: The BIGPIC model utilizes a contextualized care delivery model designed to address the unique barriers faced in rural settings. This model emphasizes the following steps: (1) find patients in the community, (2) link to peer/microfinance groups, (3) integrate education, (4) treat in the community, (5) enhance economic sustainability and (6) generate demand for care through incentives.
Main measures: The primary outcome is the linkage frequency, which measures the percentage of patients who return for care after screening positive for either hypertension and/or diabetes. Secondary measures include retention frequencies defined as the percentage of patients remaining engaged in care throughout the 9-month follow-up period and changes in systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and blood sugar over 12 months.
Key results: Of the 879 individuals who were screened, 14.2 % were confirmed to have hypertension, while only 1.4 % were confirmed to have diabetes. The implementation of a comprehensive microfinance-linked, community-based, group care model resulted in 72.4 % of screen-positive participants returning for subsequent care, of which 70.3 % remained in care through the 12 months of the evaluation period. Patients remaining in care demonstrated a statistically significant mean decline of 21 mmHg in SBP [95 % CI (13.9 to 28.4), P < 0.01] and 5 mmHg drop in DBP [95 % CI (1.4 to 7.6), P < 0.01].
Conclusions: The implementation of a contextualized care delivery model built around the unique needs of rural SSA participants led to statistically significant improvements in linkage to care and blood pressure reduction.
Keywords: agriculture; diabetes; hypertension; incentives; microfinance; portable care; rural; sub-Saharan Africa.