Diabetes em Dia Program: acceptability and feasibility of the proposal

The contemporary approach to diabetes care emphasizes education for self-management.

To evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of a proposed educational program for type 2 diabetes self-management (Diabetes em Dia Program), tailored for the users of an outpatient service at a private hospital in São Paulo, Brazil.

This was an evaluation study of the preliminary proposal for a complex intervention conducted by health professionals from the hospital's Diabetes Study Group. After being introduced to the proposal, professionals were invited to assess it using a semantic differential scale based on criteria of acceptability and feasibility. Evaluation was based on agreement percentages, and consensus was achieved when agreement reached ≥ 89%.

There was consensus that the program is suitable for managing type 2 diabetes; it is understandable, acceptable, and effective. It was also considered to pose no risk to patients or health professionals and require minimal additional material resources and ongoing supervision. However, there was no consensus regarding the program's general assessment, the effort and time required for its application, its ease/difficulty of application, the need for additional human resources, and its cost-effectiveness.

Professionals recognized the program's importance, suitability, value, and positive effects. However, they acknowledged that effective implementation would require significant changes in work processes.

Although the program was favorably assessed across many acceptability criteria, barriers to its implementation were identified.