Reducing the risk of progression from Gestational Diabetes to Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: women’s perspectives on the content, research development and evaluation of a mobile health technology lifestyle intervention to support postnatal dietary and activity lifestyle change

The project aimed to consult with women who have had GD and their partners, in order to investigate how factors which support sustained lifestyle change could be enabled through the use of modern technology, such as:
·         online forums (for social support)

·         smartphones (for goal setting)

·         fitness tracking wristbands (for behaviour tracking)

·         use of  online tools to help women wishing to lose weight or be more physically active, such as the NHS 12 week diet and exercise plan.

 

 The study team also wished to explore:

·         how and when women might be introduced to a mobile technology lifestyle intervention

·         how they might be supported in continuing to use the new technology

·         how family and friends view diet and exercise lifestyle change in the context of GD

 

In order to embed patient perspectives from the outset within the research design process, we also sought their views and ideas about:

·         Research questions including content of a topic guide for a qualitative study

·         The antenatal behaviour change intervention that currently exists in secondary care

·         Primary outcome measure for a clinical trial

·         Recruitment strategy

·         Study design

·         Intervention content

·         Data collection methods

·         Ethical issues of online support and questionnaire and health practitioners lifestyle research data collection relating to weight, diet and exercise.

·         Lifestyle and social media interaction data transfer on-line to a secure research database at the university.  

·         PPI focused dissemination

 Patient and Public involvement Project Methods

The lead researcher (BMc) first conducted a PPI group with a group of mums in Barnsley, at a ‘Sure Start’ Children’s centre, and then attended a Jessop Wing, Sheffield University Hospital Trust  established PPI group of women service users of maternity care at the hospital. BMc was introduced to a midwife at the antenatal clinic who invited him to attend one of the antenatal GD intervention sessions. This enabled us to map the current care at the Jessop Wing and helped inform our intervention plans in terms of how best this could be followed on in primary care. 

ISBN-978-0-9571207-4-7