The Healthy Living with Type 2 Diabetes Education Programme, which currently runs group education sessions for people recently diagnosed, was chosen to trial the concept of converting a face-to-face programme to a digital medium.
Analysis of the attendance figures for the group education programme showed that the older generation, especially those over retirement age, were more likely to attend, but below retirement age (possibly due to the timing of the clinics being during working hours) attendance rates reduced dramatically. The channel-shift towards an online offer aims to engage people through a different form of learning, reduce non-completion, offer flexible access including the ability to cover key learning points again, and appeal to younger service users.
The Healthy Living with Type 2 Diabetes programme currently contains 8 hours of training; Healthy Lifestyles wanted to distill the essence and key learning of the programme and deliver this through the video series. It was also important that an efficient digital infrastructure was set up to deliver the videos – Patient’s Know Best was adopted as the main platform. This platform has been further developed with Healthy Lifestyles to capture entry and exit data, deliver the video programme, and offer online support to patients. The trial will initially offer the online video programme to patients who have declined the group offer, and also as a patient-led option for new referrals. The videos will be used in the group education sessions, and links will be shared so patients can access the content afterwards. Non-attendees will also be sent email links and can watch the videos at a time convenient to them. In total 10 videos were produced for the Healthy Lifestyles team by Health and Care Videos, covering possible complications with diabetes, healthy eating, coping with a hypo, importance of physical activity, what health checks do you need, giving an insulin injection, looking after your feet, and getting your eyes checked.
View some of the series here: http://www.torbayandsouthdevon.nhs.uk/services/healthy-lifestyles/healthy-living-with-diabetes/
Process evaluation, outcome measures and feedback mechanisms will help determine the efficacy and preferred mode of delivery, whether that be the group education clinics, watching the videos or a combination of both. The outcomes will also determine the possibility of rolling out similar initiatives across all services including stopping smoking, losing weight and increasing physical activity.
Healthy Lifestyles will also be conducting a Vox Pop poll with clinicians and patients to find out their views on the proposed new system. If you’re interested in finding out more about using videos to help educate and reduce the risk of diabetes visit: http://www.healthandcarevideos.com/diabetes-self-care/