Lay health worker intervention in pre-diabetes management: Study protocol of a pragmatic randomized controlled trial for Chinese families living in inadequate houses.

Introduction: Lay health workers, despite their lack of formal trainings, are important partners in providing accessible care to people with risk to develop diabetes in the community. While pre-diabetes and diabetes are more prevalent among people with low socio-economic status, including those living in inadequate houses. However, this population often have accessibility problems to formal care services due to their financial and social disadvantages. In a high-income, developed Chinese society, this pragmatic randomized controlled trial seeks to investigate the effect of a 6-months lay health worker intervention in diabetes management among people living in sub-divided flats units in Hong Kong. Methods and analysis: In this trial, 222 Chinese primary caregivers living in inadequate houses and with diabetes risk will be recruited Discussion: Our randomized controlled trial is one of the first to investigate the effect of lay health worker intervention on pre-diabetes management in a low-income Chinese population residing in inadequate houses. This study could provide insights to consider alternative service provision models to people living with diabetes risk in the community, by providing a care option to be supported by community health workers and enhanced community participation of care providers. This study attempts to evaluate the impact of a lay health worker intervention using a mixed-method study design. Despite its contribution, this study might be subjected to sampling bias since all the participants will be recruited from non-profit organizations serving deprived populations. Trial registration number: ChiCTR2100052080 in Chinese Clinical Trial Registry. URL: https://www.chictr.org.cn/edit.aspx?pid=134928&htm=4.