Table 1 Components of the BetaMe programme and evidence of their effectiveness
Stage | Element | What is provided | Evidence-based for effective self-management |
|---|---|---|---|
Core only (weeks 1–16) | Health coaches | Shared goal setting, and personalised programme based on that person’s personal goals. Provide regular input, encouragement and support via messaging and fortnightly video or audio meetings | Educational programmes and individual support through personalised coaches has been shown to be effective, with the level of effectiveness dependent on the intensity of the programme [50]. A number of successful interventions have provided access to an ‘expert’, such as a personal trainer or dietician, coupled with support from health professionals [51, 52] |
Health literacy | Fortnightly evidence-based resources and behaviour-change tools delivered in consumer-centred formats (bite sized, simple messages, images and video) | Mobile phones to send reminders or educational information via text, or within applications, have proven beneficial in the management of chronic conditions such as diabetes [53] with positive outcomes relating to glycaemic control and patient satisfaction, [17] self-efficacy [19] medication adherence [20] and as a result of weight loss, reduced transition from pre-diabetes to diabetes [54] | |
Core and maintenance (weeks 1–52) | Goal tracking | Daily reminders via web-based devices. Daily goal tracking of exercise, happiness, energy levels, food and weekly tracking of weight and waist measure | Goal tracking, such as the regular monitoring of weight or laboratory data has been identified as a key component of successful self-management programmes to achieve weight loss [55], and improved long-term outcomes [56] |
Peer support | Online closed forum, monitored by a registered nurse | Peer support has been successful in improving glycaemic control [57,58,59,60,61] and has been identified by participants, to be the most useful component of a self-management programme [57] |