Identification of Important Factors Affecting Use of Digital Individualised Coaching and Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes in General Practice: A Qualitative Feasibility Study

Pernille Ravn Jakobsen, Jeanette Reffstrup Christensen, Jesper Bo Nielsen, Jens Søndergaard, Dorte Ejg Jarbøl, Michael Hecht Olsen, Jens Steen Nielsen, Jette Kolding Kristensen and Carl J. Brandt
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Pernille Ravn Jakobsen: Research Unit of General Practice, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, 5000 Odense C, Denmark
Jeanette Reffstrup Christensen: Research Unit of General Practice, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, 5000 Odense C, Denmark
Jesper Bo Nielsen: Research Unit of General Practice, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, 5000 Odense C, Denmark
Jens Søndergaard: Research Unit of General Practice, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, 5000 Odense C, Denmark
Dorte Ejg Jarbøl: Research Unit of General Practice, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, 5000 Odense C, Denmark
Michael Hecht Olsen: Department of Internal Medicine and Steno Diabetes Center Zealand, Holbaek Hospital, 4300 Holbaek, Denmark
Jens Steen Nielsen: Steno Diabetes Center, Odense University Hospital, 5000 Odense C, Denmark
Jette Kolding Kristensen: Center for General Practice, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark
Carl J. Brandt: Research Unit of General Practice, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, 5000 Odense C, Denmark

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 8, 1-13

Abstract: Most type 2 diabetes patients are treated in general practice and there is a need of developing and implementing efficient lifestyle interventions. eHealth interventions have shown to be effective in promoting a healthy lifestyle. The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility, including the identification of factors of importance, when offering digital lifestyle coaching to type 2 diabetes patients in general practice. We conducted a qualitative feasibility study with focus group interviews in four general practices. We identified two overall themes and four subthemes: (1) the distribution of roles and lifestyle interventions in general practice (subthemes: external and internal distribution of roles) and (2) the pros and cons for digital lifestyle interventions in general practice (subthemes: access to real life data and change in daily routines). We conclude that for digital lifestyle coaching to be feasible in a general practice setting, it was of great importance that the general practitioners and practice nurses knew the role and content of the intervention. In general, there was a positive attitude in the general practice setting towards referring type 2 diabetes patients to digital lifestyle intervention if it was easy to refer the patients and if easily understandable and accessible feedback was implemented into the electronic health record. It was important that the digital lifestyle intervention was flexible and offered healthcare providers in general practice an opportunity to follow the type 2 diabetes patient closely.

Keywords: type 2 diabetes; general practice; eHealth; lifestyle; qualitative; feasibility study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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