Introduction:

the options for the control of diabetes mellitus move in the four directions of the task of medicine: promotion, prevention, cure and rehabilitation. A basic tool for disease control is Health Education, a process that takes place throughout life and that teaches the individual to know their body better and how to maintain it.

Objective:

to determine the effect of an educational intervention based on a participatory methodology to increase the level of knowledge and care habits of new onset diabetic patients.

Method:

a prospective, applied and quasi-experimental investigation was carried out in the period from December 2016 to October 2018. An educational intervention was carried out with new onset diabetic patients organized in groups of 10 according to the medical office to facilitate the development of activities. The evaluation of the intervention was carried out through the fulfillment of the different educational goals and comparisons before and after the variables: level of knowledge, weight assessment, metabolic control and adherence to treatment.

Results:

the level of knowledge was raised; they reached their ideal weight and maintained good metabolic control and adherence to treatment.

Conclusions:

the educational intervention was effective in improving knowledge, weight assessment, metabolic control, adherence to treatment, behaviors and lifestyles of diabetic patients.

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