Working Together to Improve Type 2 Diabetes Care: A Participatory Design Project to Address Identified Needs of People With Diabetes and Their Health-care Professionals

Diabetes care in Australia is often fragmented and provider-centred, resulting in suboptimal care. Innovative solutions are needed to bridge the evidence–practice gap, and technology can facilitate the redesign of type 2 diabetes care. We used participatory design to increase the chances of fulfilling stakeholders’ needs. Using this method, we explored solutions aimed at redesigning diabetes care, focussing on the previously identified needs. The participatory design project was guided by stakeholders’ contributions. Stakeholders of this project included people with type 2 diabetes, health-care professionals, technology developers, and researchers. Information uncovered at each step influenced the next: 1) identification of needs, 2) generation of solutions, and 3) testing of solutions. Here, we present steps 2 and 3. In step 2, we presented previously identified issues and elicited creative solutions. In step 3, we obtained stakeholders’ feedback on the solutions from step 2, presented as care pathways. Suggested solutions included a multidisciplinary wellness centre, a mobile app, increased access to education, improved care coordination, increased support for general practitioners, and a better funding model. The revised care pathways featured accessible community resources, a tailored self-management and educational app, a care coordinator, a digital dashboard, and specialized support for primary care to deal with complex cases. Using a participatory design, we successfully identified multiple innovative solutions with the potential to improve person-centred and integrated type 2 diabetes care in Australia. These solutions will inform the implementation and evaluation of a redesigned care model by our team. Les soins de diabète en Australie sont souvent fragmentés et centrés sur les prestataires, ce qui entraîne des soins sous optimaux. Des solutions innovatrices pour combler le vide entre les données probantes et la pratique sont nécessaires, et la technologie peut contribuer à faciliter la réorganisation des soins du diabète de type 2. Pour augmenter les chances de répondre aux besoins des intervenants, nous avons utilisé la conception participative. Au moyen de cette méthode, nous avons examiné les solutions visant la réorganisation des soins du diabète, et nous nous sommes concentrés sur les besoins précédemment définis. Le projet de conception participative était orchestré par les contributions des intervenants. Les intervenants de ce projet étaie