Feasibility of a Manualized Occupation-Based Diabetes Management Intervention

We investigated the feasibility and acceptability of an occupational therapy intervention targeting diabetes management for underserved young adults.

Eight participants completed the intervention and a battery of assessments at baseline and after the intervention. At completion, the participants and occupational therapist were interviewed about their experiences with the study. Four categories of assessment questions were used to guide the study: process, resource, management, and scientific.

Successes included recruitment; fulfillment of tasks by staff and partnering clinics; adequate space, financial support, and equipment; and meaningfulness of the intervention for participants. Challenges included scheduling participants for the intervention and follow-up focus groups and providing client centeredness and flexibility while reducing burden on the intervener.

This feasibility study allowed us to make necessary revisions to our study protocol before implementing a larger pilot study.