Objective:

In recent years, there has been a shift in diabetes approach to a strategy that places the patient and their family at the centre of care management. Educational interventions are essential to enable diabetic patients to practice appropriate self-care. Although several studies have shown a positive impact of family inclusion in the management of chronic diseases, little emphasis has been given to family-based educational interventions. Thus, this work aims to update the evidence on family-based diabetes self-management education in adult populations.

Methods:

We conducted a search for articles published between January 2010 and December 2019 in English, Portuguese or Spanish, using the terms diabetes, family-based interventions and self-care or self-management, in the evidence-based medicine databases. Articles that assessed the effectiveness of family-based diabetes self-management education in adult populations were selected and analysed. The Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy (SORT) was used to classify the studies’ quality and assign the recommendations’ strength.

Results:

Three systematic reviews, one meta-analysis and four randomized clinical trials were selected. In general, the results indicate that family-based diabetes interventions have benefits in biological/clinical, behavioural, and psychosocial outcomes. However, these studies include a wide range of levels of family involvement, model of educational interventions and results assessed.

Conclusions:

Although the available evidence is still limited, the studies included in this review show benefits of the family-based diabetes interventions in health outcomes. Therefore, we recommend patients’ participation with their families in family-based diabetes self-management education programs (SORT B).

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