Developing and evaluating a personalised, digital programme for type 2 diabetes prevention...15th National Conference of the Primary Care Diabetes Society, November 7–8, 2019, Birmingham, England

Background: For several years, the NHS has provided face-to-face, structured education and support programmes for people at risk of type 2 diabetes. While these programmes have benefited many, those benefits are inaccessible to a proportion of those at risk for a variety of reasons: inflexible sched...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Diabetes & Primary Care Vol. 21; no. 5; p. 185
Main Author: Williams, M.
Format: abstract proceedings research Journal Article
Published: SB Communications Group, A Schofield Media Company 2019
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Description
Summary:Background: For several years, the NHS has provided face-to-face, structured education and support programmes for people at risk of type 2 diabetes. While these programmes have benefited many, those benefits are inaccessible to a proportion of those at risk for a variety of reasons: inflexible scheduling during the working week, the need to travel to attend in person, and a "one-size fits all" approach that makes it difficult to tailor content to the personal preferences, circumstances and needs of each individual. Aims: Changing Health has developed and evaluated an innovative personalised, digital programme for type 2 diabetes prevention, based on cutting-edge research in metabolism, diabetes and behavioural science. The programme empowers participants by combining bespoke, one-toone lifestyle coaching (delivered over the phone) with a course of structured diabetes education (delivered via an app). People at risk of diabetes learn how they can best fit simple lifestyle changes into their lives and receive personalised support to help them make those changes. Methods: Health and user satisfaction outcomes were measured in a 12-month pilot. Results: At month 12, 79% of users were satisfied with Changing Health as a whole. 92% of users were satisfied with their coaching, while 88% identified their coach as crucial to their success. Participants lost an average of 2.5 kg at 3 months, 3.3 kg at 6 months, 3.6 kg at 9 months and 4.5 kg at 12 months. Conclusion: This trend of slow but continual weight loss is a reflection of the success of the programme design, which encourages individuals to make small but sustainable changes to their behaviour.