Real-world evaluation of the DESMOND type 2 diabetes education and self-management programme: Real-world evaluation of the DESMOND type 2 diabetes education and self-management programme

Diabetes education and self-management programmes are associated with improved biomedical, psychosocial and behavioural outcomes according to a number of randomised controlled trials (RCT) and systematic reviews. Observational studies are necessary to determine whether delivery of this education translates to improved outcomes in the real world. In 2008, the results of an RCT evaluating Diabetes Education and Self-Management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed (DESMOND) in a multi-ethnic population were published confirming the benefits of participating in this programme with sustained improvements at three years along with confirmed cost-effectiveness. DESMOND has therefore been recommended by NICE as a robust and validated national diabetes structured education programme.DESMOND courses have been offered by the Leicester City, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) clinical commissioning groups for people newly diagnosed or with pre-existing type 2 diabetes since 2008, and we reviewed the outcomes of participants who attended a course between January 2014 and March 2015. During this period, 1678 (53%) participants attended one of 244 courses in LLR compared with 5.3% attending any validated structured education programme nationally. Notably, there was a statistically significant reduction in HbA1c of 0.96% at six months and 0.70% at 12 months (both p < 0.005). Qualitative evaluation from surveys completed by 302/1678 (18%) respondents immediately after attending DESMOND found that the programme was well received by participants who noted improvements in their ability to self-manage diabetes.This 15-month evaluation of DESMOND confirms the benefits of attending the programme in the real world. Copyright (C) 2018 John Wiley & Sons.