Interventions for improved diabetes control and self-management among those experiencing homelessness: protocol for a mixed methods scoping review

Background Diabetes is a chronic medical condition that requires patients to be actively engaged in intensive self-management to achieve optimal clinical outcomes. Unfortunately, individuals who are experiencing homelessness often struggle to manage diabetes and consequently suffer numerous and severe complications—both acute and chronic. There are many barriers to optimal diabetes self-management among this population, and this may be exacerbated by the lack of tailoring and customization of care to this unique population. Given this disconnect, it is likely that many organizations have attempted to provide specialized innovations for this population—which may or may not be reported in the formal literature. Our objective is to perform a scoping review to summarize and synthesize the experiences of those who have attempted to provide tailored interventions.