The Norwegian study in Renewing Health: Stimulating self-management in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus through telecare with ...

The present study is the Norwegian part of the European Union Collaborative Project-REgioNs of Europe WorkINg together for HEALTH (RENEWING HEALTH). Self-management support is an important element of care for persons with type 2 diabetes for achieving metabolic control and positive lifestyle changes. Telemedicine with or without health counseling may become an important technological aid for self-management and may provide a user-centered model of care. The aim of RENEWING HEALTH is to validate and evaluate innovative telemedicine tools in a large scale through a common evaluation, making it easier for decision makers to choose the most efficient and cost-effective technological interventions. The Norwegian pilot study evaluates whether the introduction of a mobile phone with a diabetes diary application together with a health counseling intervention produces benefits in terms of the desired outcomes, as reflected in the hemoglobin A1c level, health-related quality of life, behavior change, and cost-effectiveness. The present study is a three-armed prospective randomized controlled trial (one control group and two interventions groups) and with study data collected at three time points: baseline, after 4 months, and after 1 year. The patients' registrations on the application are recorded continuously and are sent securely to a server. Further, in-depth qualitative interviews of the patients' satisfaction with the intervention are conducted. The key goals of this trial are to investigate the effect of an electronic diabetes diary app with and without health counseling, and to determine whether health counseling is important to the continued use of the application and the patients' health competence and acceptability. Research within this area is needed because few studies have investigated the effectiveness of apps used in long-term interventions with this degree of self-management.