Project Lead: Jennifer Williams
Diabetic foot ulceration is a leading cause of disability, reducing quality of life, shortening life expectancy and is a leg amputation precursor. Measures to prevent ulceration development include risky behaviours avoidance, professional foot-care and self-care behaviours, such as daily foot checks. Despite education the desired self-care behaviours are frequently overlooked as empowering individuals to engage with ulceration reducing activities often requires behaviour change.
This project aims to develop a digital behaviour change intervention, with specific focus on foot health, to help people with diabetes manage their feet effectively, preventing foot ulceration.
An existing behaviour change intervention, the HOPE (help over coming problems effectively) programme will be adapted, with patients and stakeholder input. The intervention will focus specifically on foot problems and engagement with foot care activities. A feasibility trial will begin evaluating the HOPE programme for diabetic foot, with assessment of the intervention acceptability to participants. Additional outcomes will include the design and feasibility of a larger randomised control trial evaluating intervention efficacy.
This project is under development as an NIHR CRDF application, for Jennifer Williams, with the University of Plymouth and Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust.
Developing digital behaviour change