A remotely-delivered community action project to promote a diabetes lifestyle intervention programme in northwest London: basis, process and outcomes.

Sharan J Kapadia,Ewa Cumming,Yu Gao

doi:10.34172/hpp.2021.30

Abstract

Background : The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in London is rising, obesity being a major driver. As part of a primary care placement, the authors (two medical students and a lead general practitioner) directly promoted the Reducing Weight with Intensive Dietary Support (REWIND) programme to patients in Northwest London and collected feedback on the promotion. Methods : The team developed and delivered three remote interventions: a redesigned patient-facing information leaflet, phone calls and text messages, and a live, interactive webinar, to directly engage patients and raise awareness about REWIND. Feedback was collected pre and post-webinar using an anonymised, online survey (essentially functioning as a ‘teaching’ evaluation). Results : Mean interest in REWIND had increased from 2.7 (pre-promotion) to 4.7 (post-promotion), knowledge about REWIND had increased from 2.1 to 4, and self-reported likelihood of enrolling had increased from 2.6 to 4.2 (P<0.01 in all cases). The reported usefulness of the leaflet and webinar was scored 3.7 and 4.4 respectively. Within two weeks of the webinar, two of these patients had joined REWIND. Conclusion : Feedback from the patients and GP revealed that the project successfully raised awareness, improved knowledge, and increased the likelihood of enrolment in REWIND. Diabetes programmes and organisations are encouraged to adapt the methods of this project to their own contexts, especially in light of COVID-19 where remote interventions will remain essential.

Highlights

This community action project on diabetes was a collaboration between two medical students and a lead general practitioner (GP)
Materials and Methods Patient search The students carried out a patient search on the EMIS Health® record system using Reducing Weight with Intensive Dietary Support (REWIND)’s inclusion and exclusion criteria. Eligible patients were those with clinical code “Type 2 diabetes mellitus” first diagnosed within the last 12 years, and those on regular DPP4s, SGLT-2s or GLP-1s
A spreadsheet was used to analyse the data. 11 responses were received, though one was excluded as the free text suggested it was from a member of the REWIND team ( n = 10)

Summary

Introduction

This community action project on diabetes was a collaboration between two medical students and a lead general practitioner (GP) (authors). As part of a primary care placement, the authors (two medical students and a lead general practitioner) directly promoted the Reducing Weight with Intensive Dietary Support (REWIND) programme to patients in Northwest London and collected feedback on the promotion. Methods: The team developed and delivered three remote interventions: a redesigned patientfacing information leaflet, phone calls and text messages, and a live, interactive webinar, to directly engage patients and raise awareness about REWIND. Conclusion: Feedback from the patients and GP revealed that the project successfully raised awareness, improved knowledge, and increased the likelihood of enrolment in REWIND. Diabetes programmes and organisations are encouraged to adapt the methods of this project to their own contexts, especially in light of COVID-19 where remote interventions will remain essential

Methods

Results

Conclusion