Diabetes to Go-Inpatient: Pragmatic Lessons Learned from Implementation of Technology-Enabled Diabetes Survival...

Diabetes survival skills education (DSSE) focuses on core knowledge and skills necessary for safe, effective, short-term diabetes self-care. Inpatient DSSE delivery approaches are needed. Diabetes to Go (D2Go) is an evidence-based DSSE program originally designed for outpatients.

Implementation science principles were used to redesign D2Go for delivery by staff on medicine and surgery units in a tertiary care hospital to adults with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) using a tablet-based e-learning platform. Implementation efficacy was evaluated from staff and patient engagement perspectives. The Practical, Robust Implementation and Sustainability Model (PRISM) guided redesign. The team conducted qualitative evaluation (implementation barriers and facilitators); program redesign (via stakeholder feedback and education and human factors principles); implementation design for tablet delivery and patient engagement by unit staff; and a prospective implementation feasibility study.

Among 596 T2DM patients identified on three medical/surgical units, 415 (69.6%) were program eligible. Of those eligible, 59 (14.2%) received, accessed, and engaged with the platform; and among those, 43 (72.9%) completed the intervention, representing just 10.4% of those eligible. Multilevel implementation barriers were encountered: staff (receptivity, time, production pressures, culture); process (electronic health record [EHR] integration, patient identification, data tracking, bedside delivery); and patient (receptivity, acuity, availability, accessibility). Most completers required technology support.

Time constraints, limited EHR integration, and patient barriers markedly impeded implementation of the delivery of diabetes education at the bedside, despite stated staff interest. As a result, uptake and adoption of a tablet-based DSSE e-learning program in a high-acuity care setting was limited.