I-care: Stimulating Self-management in Patients With Type 2-diabetes

• Blood glucose control with changes in Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) values [ Time Frame: At the baseline and at the end of the intervention (3 months) ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  HBA1c is a form of hemoglobin used primarily to identify the average plasma glucose concentration over prolonged periods of time. It is formed in a non-enzymatic glycation pathway by hemoglobin's exposure to plasma glucose. Normal levels of glucose produce a normal amount of glycated hemoglobin. As the average amount of plasma glucose increases, the fraction of glycated hemoglobin increases in a predictable way. This serves as a marker for average blood glucose levels over the previous months prior to the measurement
  
  

• Health Education Impact Questionnaire (heiQ); [ Time Frame: At the baseline and after the end of the intervention (3 months) ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  heiQ is a user-friendly instrument for the comprehensive evaluation of patient education programs with the following dimensions: positive and active engagement in life, health directed behavior, skill and technique acquisition, constructive attitudes and approaches, self-monitoring and insight, health service navigation, social integration and support, and emotional well-being.
  
  
• Problem Areas in Diabetes (PAID) [ Time Frame: At the baseline and after the end of the intervention (3 months) ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  PAID is a brief self-report measure of diabetes-related distress that has been found to be useful in patients with diabetes (both type1 and 2). PAID scores have been found to show positive associations with HbA1c, and are a major predictor of poor adherence to treatment not involving general emotional distress
  
  
• Food frequency questionnaire FFQ [ Time Frame: At the baseline and after the end of the intervention (3 months) ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  FFQ is a measure designed to measure average long-term diet or usual consumption with specified food items.
  
  
• Audit of Diabetes Dependence Quality of Life (ADDQoL-19) [ Time Frame: At the baseline and after the end of the intervention (3months) ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  ADDQoL19 is a health-related quality of life questionnaire well designed to assess to what extent diabetes may affect different aspects of health related quality of life. The ADDQoL includes 2 introductory questions and 18 specific items, with the purpose of assessing, according to the patient's perspective, how much better his or her life would be if he/she did not have diabetes and how important each of these 19 aspects of life are for the individual.
  
  

Diabetes and overweight have become a world health epidemic. The number of people suffering of these diseases is increasing due to population growth, aging, urbanization, and increasing prevalence of obesity and physical inactivity. The costs of diabetes affect health services, national productivity as well as individuals and families. Hospital in-patient costs for the treatment of complications are the largest single contributor to direct healthcare costs. Many of these complications and, therefore, their costs, are preventable. Intensive therapy, directed at the control of blood glucose, blood pressure etc, has been shown to be cost-effective in that, although initial costs are increased, it decreases longer term costs as a result of delayed or prevented complications . Diabetes self-management education is a multi-faceted process involving much more than helping people with diabetes to monitor their blood glucose, or take their medication as prescribed. Diabetes education must be an ongoing process rather than a one-time event because a person's health status and need for support change over time.