Development of Healthy Eating and Active Lifestyles for Diabetes, a culturally tailored diabetes self-management education and support programme for Black-British adults: A participatory research approach.

Aims: To develop an evidence-based, culturally tailored, diabetes self-management education and support programme for Black-British adults, called Healthy Eating and Active Lifestyles for Diabetes (HEAL-D), using participatory methods to engage key stakeholders in the intervention design process.

Methods: Black-British adults living with type 2 diabetes, healthcare professionals and community leaders were engaged in an intervention development study. The intervention structure, format, content and delivery were developed through three phases of participatory research: Phase 1, formative research, involved focus groups and interviews; interactive co-development workshops were conducted in Phase 2; and Phase 3 focused on materials development.

Results: In Phase 1, focus groups and interviews identified the importance of nurturing collectivism, a reliance on informal sources of information/advice, barriers to attending appointments associated with competing priorities of work, travel and carer commitments, and a preference for directness and simple, clear advice/messages. A priority for healthcare professionals was the intervention embedding within current primary care structures and aligning with incentivised targets/metrics. Phase 2 (workshops) highlighted key requirements: avoidance of medical settings, appropriately trained and culturally knowledgeable educators, flexible appointments, preference for verbal and visual information and avoidance of technical/medical terminology. In Phase 3 (materials development), culturally sensitive videos, short films and information booklets were developed to convey educational messages, and food photography was used to provide culturally relevant dietary advice.

Conclusions: Participatory methods provide a means to understand the needs of specific communities. This approach enables the development of healthcare interventions that are sensitive to the needs of service users and providers.