Abstract: Objective: To design and develop a Participatory Health Education Toolkit, and to explore its influence on disease knowledge and health behaviors of patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: A Participatory Health Education Toolkit adapted to local culture was developed and verified. Eighty-one patients with type 2 diabetes were randomly divided into control group (40 cases) and intervention group (41 cases). The control group received routine health education, while the intervention group received Participatory Research, Participatory Role-playing and Participatory Review (3-PR) health education based on Participatory Health Education Toolkit. The level of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), scores of diabetes knowledge and diabetes self-management behaviors were compared between the two groups after 3 months of intervention. Results: After the intervention, the level of HbA1c, the scores of diabetes knowledge and diabetes self-management behaviors in the intervention group were significantly better than those in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion: Using Participatory Health Education Toolkit can significantly improve patients' self-management behaviors and blood sugar control level.

Key words: participation; health education tools; type 2 diabetes; self-management