Patient Activation Through Community Empowerment/Engagement for Diabetes Management (PACE-D)

The investigators will conduct a prospective study on existing patients with diabetes who are on follow-up with their teamlets at Pioneer (PIO), Jurong (JUR), Bukit Batok (BBK) and Choa Chu Kang (CCK) polyclinics for management of diabetes. Recruitment will occur for 18 months from the time of study implementation. One teamlet in JUR and one teamlet in PIO (total of two teamlets) will fall under intervention arm where the new care model based on the Year-of-Care (YOC) model will be delivered, whereas one teamlet in BBK and one teamlet in CCK (total of another two teamlets) will fall under the control arm where the current teamlet model will be continued.

In the intervention group, patients recruited will undergo the new care model which entails receiving the Care Planning Results Letter before the consultation at their annual review, involving them in the Care and Support Planning (CSP) consultation at the annual review, and referring them to suitable community resources to support self-management. The Care Planning Results Letter prompts patients to think the issues they would like to raise to their Doctor or Care Manager (who is a nurse trained in chronic disease management), checks on their mood, provides information on their most recent few laboratory test results, clinical parameters, smoking status, and attendances for foot and eye screenings. The letter also covers goal setting and action planning discussions. The patient is expected to bring it for the upcoming CSP consultation at the annual review. The CSP is a conversation which is conducted by the Doctor or Care Manager trained in the new care model. It focuses on a collaborative approach between the health care providers and the patient for joint goal setting and shared decision making to support self-management of their chronic condition(s).

In the control arm, the participants will receive the usual care with the teamlet model. There will not be any Care Planning Results Letter prepared for the patient. At the upcoming annual visit, the patient will continue to have the usual annual review for the laboratory test results and consultation. A flyer that lists the community programmes that support the patient for self-management will also be issued to the patient. If the patient is interested in any of these programmes, they may sign up with the respective community providers directly.

After the first CSP, selected patient participants may be invited for a one-to-one in-depth interviews (IDIs) to explore their perceptions about diabetes, diabetes management and the intervention programme in greater detail. The interviews will be conducted by researchers trained qualitative research methodology. They will be semi-structured with a topic guide to support exploration of the themes of interest, and will be informed by prior qualitative research with this and other similar interventions, as well as the results from the patient surveys. Health care providers who are involved in the delivery of CSPs in the intervention arm will also be invited for a one-to-one in-depth interviews (IDIs), to develop an understanding of how they find the training and new way of working with patients (particularly the care and support planning conversation).

Inclusion criteria

• On follow up with an existing teamlet pre-assigned to participate in the study
• Adults with diabetes mellitus
• Age 21 years and above
• Ability to provide informed consent
• Ability to communicate in the language(s) which the physician is confident to carry out the care and support planning consult in English, Malay or Chinese
• Ability to read and comprehend the Diabetes Results Letter on their own OR has family members who are able to assist to that

Exclusion criteria

• Doctors, Care Managers and Care Coordinators involved in the care and support planning process
• Age 21 years and above
• Ability to provide informed consent