Development and evaluation of web-based Self-care Management Health Education e-Learning Program for type 2 diabetes patients: A pilot study

Aims

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an incurable chronic disease that can be controlled by self-care management. Health education assisted by technology can improve self-care management. This pilot study aims to: (a) identify the concerns, issues, and challenges faced by type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients and healthcare providers, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic; (b) develop a Self-care Management Health Education e-Learning Program (ScMHEeLP); and (c) pilot whether ScMHEeLP can improve knowledge, self-care management, and glycemic controls of T2DM patients.

Method

This pilot study uses a multiphase mixed-methods design. Twenty-three participants were involved in in-depth interviews as the basis for developing ScMHEeLP, and thirty-seven voluntary participants were recruited for the evaluation phase. The ScMHEeLP was piloted for 3 months to test its effectiveness in improving the knowledge, self-care management, and glycemic controls of T2DM patients. Thematic analysis was used to examine the qualitative data, and the Wilcoxon test was used for quantitative data.

Results

In the development phase revealed patients’ and healthcare providers’ concerns, issues, and challenges regarding diabetic care, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on these findings, the ScMHEeLP was developed in the form of web-based. ScMHEeLP consists of seven animatic videos, completed with a feature to evaluate patients’ understanding of the disease and treatments. ScMHEeLP was downloadable and accessible anywhere and anytime (online–offline). In the evaluation phase showed a significant difference in the levels of knowledge (Z = −5.306, p = 0.000), levels of self-care activities (Z = −5.139, p = 0.000), and level of fasting blood sugar (Z = −4.282, p = 0.000), before and after the implementation of ScMHEeLP.

Conclusions

ScMHEeLP was able to improve knowledge and self-care activities and able to lower fasting blood sugar levels. ScMHEeLP still needs continuous improvement and further testing for better outcome.