Healthier Living Partnership – Healthier Devon
Sustained support for those most at risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes in Devon.
Overview
A behaviour change intervention programme for ‘harder to reach’ individuals at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes in Devon.
Treatment for diabetes accounts for about 10% of the UK’s NHS budget, spread between primary and secondary care. In Devon, diabetes is particularly prevalent, causing significant harm to patients.
‘Healthier Living Partnership’ provides a behaviour change intervention programme for ‘harder to reach’ individuals at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes in Devon – a group that requires more tailored and regular support.
The programme identifies and refers individuals with pre-diabetes in Devon to a diabetes education programme which promotes sustained healthy behaviour change and improved ability to self-care (nutrition, exercise and practical skills), resulting in a reduction in the incidence and complications of diabetes, in improved well-being, improved general health, and reduced use of healthcare services.
Delivery innovations
The switch to outcomes-based contracting has enabled a much more collaborative, flexible approach to problem-solving. This has facilitated a number of significant delivery innovations, including:
- Healthier Living Partnership created a simple visual system to help participants become better aware of what foods they are eating, and learn to make changes for a healthier diet.
- Taking a participant-led approach to delivery – for example using communication channels that best suit individual participants (in one case via post!) – has resulted in a higher programme completion rate.
- Ensuring staff have an increased understanding of the case management system and its capabilities has meant they can better use it to tailor their work to the individual needs of participants.
Outcomes
Over 1,750 people have joined the programme since January 2019, of whom 84% have reduced their blood-sugar levels and 75% are no longer pre-diabetic.
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1778
Starts to the programme
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921
People completed the programme
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75
Are no longer pre-diabetic
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£1.2m
Outcomes achieved