Development of Indonesian group-based diabetes education program (InGDEP): a mixed method study

There is a global threat with the increasing prevalence of diabetes. Diabetes is a type of disease that can affect the whole body, including the cardiovascular, renal, peripheral, and nervous systems. People with diabetes need to have significant knowledge and skill in managing their disease. Evidence has shown that an effective way to increase knowledge of people with diabetes to enable them to perform good self-management is through a health education program. A diabetes education program is an education program that aims to improve the glycaemic control of people with diabetes. Good glycaemic control reflects good self-management behaviour. The evidence shows that structured education programs can improve knowledge and self-care activities in the short-term, and assist patients to have good glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels and good quality of life. The aim of this study was to develop, implement, and evaluate a structured group-based diabetes education program acceptable to Indonesian communities. A mixed methods embedded design was employed to address the research questions. The education program was implemented in local health centres in Indonesia, and was evaluated to measure its impact and to explore the factors that can hinder or facilitate its success. Findings indicated some improvement in knowledge and self-care activities of people with diabetes, and knowledge and skill of health professionals in conducting health education programs. The findings demonstrated that the structured education program used in this study can work very well. This research also found some challenges and barriers such as the limitations in family involvement, limited organisational capacity for health professionals to create effective learning environments for people with diabetes, and limitations in the local health authority capacities to fully implement the program. This research has demonstrated that a structured group-based education program can work in the Indonesian setting and can bring short-term improvement to people with diabetes and to the health professionals