How is the Behavior Change Technique Content of the NHS Diabetes Prevention Program Understood by Participants? A Qualitative Study of Fidelity, With a Focus on Receipt

Experiences of online group support for engaging and supporting participants in the National Health Service Digital Diabetes Prevention Programme: A qualitative interview study

OBJECTIVES

The National Health Service Digital Diabetes Prevention Programme is a nine-month behavioural intervention for adults in England at risk of type 2 diabetes. This qualitative study aimed to explore how service users engaged with the group support available within the programme.

METHODS

The majority of participants (n = 33), all service users, were interviewed twice via telephone, at 2-4 months into the programme, and at the end of the programme at 8-10 months. Semi-structured interviews covered participants' experiences of online group support functions and how such groups served as a route of support to aid participants' behavioural changes. Data were analysed using manifest thematic analysis.

RESULTS

The majority of participants valued the format of closed group chats, which provided an interactive platform to offer and receive support during their behaviour change journey. However, engagement with group chats reduced over time, and some participants did not find them useful when there was a lack of common interests within the group. Health coaches helped to promote engagement and build rapport among participants within the group chats. Participants reported mixed experiences of discussion forums.

CONCLUSIONS

Programme developers should consider how to optimise online group support to help service users make behavioural changes, in terms of format, participant composition and use of health coach moderators. Further research is required to better understand who might benefit most from 'group chat' or 'discussion forum' support. Health coach moderation of online support groups is likely to facilitate engagement.

Maintaining long-term physical activity after cancer: a conceptual framework to inform intervention development

PURPOSE

This paper describes a conceptual framework of maintenance of physical activity (PA) and its application to future intervention design.

METHODS

Evidence from systematic literature reviews and in-depth (N = 27) qualitative interviews with individuals with cancer were used to develop a conceptual framework of long-term physical activity behaviour. Determinants of long-term PA were listed and linked with domains of the Theoretical Domains Framework which in turn were linked to associated behaviour change techniques (BCTs) and finally to proposed mechanisms of action (MoA).

RESULTS

The conceptual framework is presented within the context of non-modifiable contextual factors (such as demographic and material resources) and in the presence of learnt and adapted behavioural determinants of skills, competence and autonomous motivation that must be established as part of the initiation of physical activity behaviour. An inventory of 8 determinants of engagement in long-term PA after cancer was developed. Clusters of BCTs are presented along with proposed MoA which can be tested using mediation analysis in future trials.

CONCLUSION

Understanding the processes of PA maintenance after cancer and presentation of implementable and testable intervention components and mechanisms of action to promote continued PA can inform future intervention development.

IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS

This resource can act as a starting point for selection of intervention components for those developing future interventions. This will facilitate effective support of individuals affected by cancer to maintain PA for the long term.

Preventing type 2 diabetes: A research agenda for behavioural science

AIMS

The aim of this narrative review was to identify important knowledge gaps in behavioural science relating to type 2 diabetes prevention, to inform future research in the field.

METHODS

Seven researchers who have published behaviour science research applied to type 2 diabetes prevention independently identified several important gaps in knowledge. They met to discuss these and to generate recommendations to advance research in behavioural science of type 2 diabetes prevention.

RESULTS

A total of 21 overlapping recommendations for a research agenda were identified. These covered issues within the following broad categories: (a) evidencing the impact of whole population approaches to type 2 diabetes prevention, (b) understanding the utility of disease-specific approaches to type 2 diabetes prevention such as Diabetes Prevention Programmes (DPPs) compared to generic weight loss programmes, (c) identifying how best to increase reach and engagement of DPPs, whilst avoiding exacerbating inequalities, (d) the need to understand mechanism of DPPs, (e) the need to understand how to increase maintenance of changes as part of or following DPPs, (f) the need to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of alternative approaches to the typical self-regulation approaches that are most commonly used, and (g) the need to address emotional aspects of DPPs, to promote effectiveness and avoid harms.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a clear role for behavioural science in informing interventions to prevent people from developing type 2 diabetes, based on strong evidence of reach, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. This review identifies key priorities for research needed to improve existing interventions.

The influence of demographic, health and psychosocial factors on patient uptake of the English NHS diabetes prevention programme

BACKGROUND

The prevention of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is a major concern for health services around the world. The English NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme (NHS-DPP) offers a group face-to-face behaviour change intervention, based around exercise and diet, to adults with non-diabetic hyperglycaemia (NDH), referred from primary care. Previous analysis of the first 100,000 referrals revealed just over half of those referred to the NHS-DPP took up a place. This study aimed to identify the demographic, health and psychosocial factors associated with NHS-DPP uptake to help inform the development of interventions to improve uptake and address inequities between population groups.

METHODS

Drawing on the Behavioral Model of Health Services Utilization we developed a survey questionnaire to collect data on a wide range of demographic, health and psychosocial factors that might influence uptake of the NHS-DPP. We distributed this questionnaire to a cross-sectional random sample of 597 patients referred to the NHS-DPP across 17 general practices, chosen for variation. Multivariable regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with NHS-DPP uptake.

RESULTS

325 out of 597 questionnaires were completed (54%). Only a third of responders took up the offer of a place. The best performing model for uptake (AUC = 0.78) consisted of four factors: older age; beliefs concerning personal vulnerability to T2DM; self-efficacy for reducing T2DM risk; and the efficacy of the NHS-DPP. After accounting for these, demographic and health-related factors played only a minor role.

CONCLUSION

Unlike fixed demographic characteristics, psychosocial perceptions may be amenable to change. NHS-DPP uptake rates may be improved by targeting the beliefs of patients about their risk of developing T2DM, their ability to carry out and sustain behaviours to reduce this risk, and the efficacy of the NHS-DPP in providing the necessary understanding and skills required. The recently introduced digital version of the NHS DPP could help address the even lower uptake amongst younger adults. Such changes could facilitate proportional access from across different demographic strata.

Explaining the UK's 'high-risk' approach to type 2 diabetes prevention: findings from a qualitative interview study with policy-makers in England

OBJECTIVES

When seeking to prevent type 2 diabetes, a balance must be struck between individual approaches (focusing on people's behaviour 'choices') and population approaches (focusing on the environment in which those choices are made) to address the socioeconomic complexity of diabetes development. We sought to explore how this balance is negotiated in the accounts of policy-makers developing and enacting diabetes prevention policy.

METHODS

Twelve semistructured interviews were undertaken with nine UK policy-makers between 2018-2021. We explored their perspectives on disease prevention strategies and what influenced policy decision-making. Interviews were transcribed and analysed thematically using NVIVO. We used Shiffman's political priority framework to theorise why some diabetes prevention policy approaches gather political support while others do not.

RESULTS

The distribution of power and funding among relevant actors, and the way they exerted their power determined the dominant approach in diabetes prevention policy. As a result of this distribution, policy-makers framed their accounts of diabetes prevention policies in terms of individual behaviour change, monitoring personal quantitative markers but with limited ability to effect population-level approaches. Such an approach aligns with the current prevailing neoliberal political context, which focuses on individual lifestyle choices to prevent disease rather than on infrastructure measures to improve the environments and contexts within which those choices are made.

CONCLUSION

Within new local and national policy structures, there is an opportunity for collaborative working among the National Health Service, local governments and public health teams to balance the focus on disease prevention, addressing upstream drivers of ill health as well as targeting individuals with the highest risk of diabetes.

What behaviour change technique content is offered to service users of the nationally implemented English NHS Digital Diabetes Prevention Programme: Analysis of multiple sources of intervention content

The National Health Service Digital Diabetes Prevention Programme (NHS-DDPP) is a behavioural intervention for adults in England at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, rolled out nationally via independent providers and their digital partners. The NHS England programme specification indicated 19 behaviour change techniques (BCTs) which should be present in the intervention, including BCTs to support self-regulation. A previous evaluation of the face-to-face service found an under-delivery of some self-regulatory BCTs. This study assessed whether those 19 BCTs were offered in the different interventions delivered by four digital providers. A cross-sectional analysis of BCT content in the NHS-DDPP was elicited from the following sources: (a) online platforms (e.g. apps), (b) educational materials, and (c) health coaching (assessed via interviews with health coaches and audio-recorded telephone consultations). All materials were coded using the Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy v1. A total of 17, 15, 15 and 14 of the 19 specified BCTs were identified across the four digital provider programmes. A mean proportion of 43% of specified BCTs were present via providers' apps, 74% via educational materials, and 62% via health coaching. An additional 41 BCTs were included in at least one of the four providers' programmes. Fidelity of BCT content in the NHS-DDPP was better than previously identified for the face-to-face DPP service. However, BCTs were offered via multiple modalities, thus the degree to which users engage with the modalities will impact on their exposure to BCTs and likely effectiveness of the digital programme.

The English national health service diabetes prevention programme (NHS DPP): A scoping review of existing evidence

AIMS

The English National Health Service Diabetes Prevention Programme (NHS DPP) is commissioned by NHS England and has been rolled out across England to adults identified as being at high risk of type 2 diabetes. The present scoping review aimed to identify the extent and nature of evidence to date on the NHS DPP and describe what the evidence has reported.

METHODS

A scoping review involving searches of various sources (including MEDLINE, CINAHL, MediArXiv, Google Scholar and GreyLit) was conducted on 31 August 2021 and repeated on 09 February 2022. Only articles reporting on the NHS DPP made available since 2015 were eligible for inclusion.

RESULTS

65 articles were included. Of these, 37 were journal publications. Most articles were made available in 2018 and 2020 (total n = 25). The majority of articles reported on uptake and retention (n = 27) whilst others reported on implementation considerations (n = 24), programme outcomes (n = 21), stakeholder experience (n = 8) and screening and referral processes (n = 3). Various research methods were reported and included qualitative (n = 9) and document analysis (n = 8). Articles revealed preliminary evidence on service user characteristics, rates of referral, uptake and retention as well as how far the NHS DPP is being delivered in line with its evidence base and service specification.

CONCLUSIONS

The evidence is accumulating on NHS DPP uptake and retention most, with emerging evidence on programme outcomes (such as weight loss and HbA1c). More evidence is warranted on stakeholder experience to decipher how to overcome low initial and long-term engagement reported by the current evidence base.

Fidelity to Program Specification of the National Health Service Digital Diabetes Prevention Program Behavior Change Technique Content and Underpinning Theory: Document Analysis

Background

The National Health Service (NHS) Diabetes Prevention Program is a behavior change intervention for adults in England who are identified as being at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The face-to-face service was launched in 2016, followed by a digital service (NHS Digital Diabetes Prevention Program [NHS-DDPP]) in 2019. A total of 4 service providers were commissioned to deliver the NHS-DDPP and were required to deliver the digital service in line with a program specification detailing the key intervention content. The fidelity of the behavior change content in the digital service (ie, the extent to which the program is delivered as intended) is currently unknown. Digital interventions may allow higher fidelity as staff do not have to be trained to deliver all intervention content. Assessing fidelity of the intervention design is particularly important to establish the planned behavior change content in the NHS-DDPP and the extent to which this adheres to the program specification. This is the first known independent assessment of design fidelity in a large-scale digital behavior change intervention.

Objective

This study aims to assess the fidelity of the behavior change content in each of the 4 NHS-DDPP providers’ intervention designs to the full program specification.

Methods

We conducted a document review of each provider’s NHS-DDPP intervention design, along with interviews with program developers employed by the 4 digital providers (n=6). Providers’ intervention design documents and interview transcripts were coded for behavior change techniques (BCTs; ie, the active ingredients of the intervention) using the Behavior Change Technique Taxonomy version 1 and underpinning theory using the Theory Coding Scheme framework. The BCTs identified in each digital provider’s intervention design were compared with the 19 BCTs included in the program specification.

Results

Of the 19 BCTs specified in the program specification, the 4 providers planned to deliver 16 (84%), 17 (89%), 16 (84%), and 16 (84%) BCTs, respectively. An additional 41 unspecified BCTs were included in at least one of the 4 digital providers’ intervention designs. By contrast, inconsistent use of the underpinning theory was apparent across providers, and none of the providers had produced a logic model to explain how their programs were expected to work. All providers linked some of their planned BCTs to theoretical constructs; however, justification for the inclusion of other BCTs was not described.

Conclusions

The fidelity of BCT content in the NHS-DDPP was higher than that previously documented for the face-to-face service. Thus, if service users engage with the NHS-DDPP, this should increase the effectiveness of the program. However, given that a clear theoretical underpinning supports the translation of BCTs in intervention designs to intervention delivery, the absence of a logic model describing the constructs to be targeted by specific BCTs is potentially problematic.