A digital self-management intervention for adults with type 2 diabetes: Combining theory, data and participatory design to develop HeLP-Diabetes

Digital health interventions have potential to contribute to better health outcomes, better healthcare and lower costs. However, evidence for their effectiveness is variable. The development and content of digital health interventions are often not described in enough detail to enable others to replicate the research or improve on previous interventions. This has led to a call for transparent reporting of intervention content and development. To describe the development process and content of a digital self-management intervention for people with type 2 diabetes (HeLP-Diabetes) that has been found to achieve its target clinical outcome, the reduction of HbA1c, a measure of glycaemic control. We synthesised theory, data from existing research evidence and international guidelines, and new qualitative data from target users to identify the determinants of self-management and the content to be included in HeLP-Diabetes. Using an ongoing iterative participatory design approach the content of the intervention was written, produced, reviewed and changed. It is possible to develop and transparently report self-management programmes for long-term conditions, which reflect current best evidence, theoretical underpinning and user involvement. We intend that reporting the development process and content will inform future digital intervention development. •Uptake of group based self-management education by people with T2DM is low. Digital health interventions may provide an additional mode of delivery.•A participatory design approach provides a way of synthesising different sources of data to develop a self-management intervention for people living with a long-term condition.•It is important that the content and development process of interventions are described for other researchers to build on, so that science is cumulative.