MyDesmond: A digital self-management programme for people living with Type 2 diabetes

Aim: To update and design an interactive and tailored digital programme to help with the self-management of type 2 diabetes (T2DM).

Method: Following the implementation of version 1 of myDESMOND in 2016, an iterative process was undertaken to design a more robust interactive programme. The design and development of myDESMOND v2 consisted of regular input from stakeholders, including dietitians, psychologist, researchers, diabetes specialist nurses, diabetes consultants, web developers and people with T2DM.

Informed by key psychological theories and the Behaviour Change Taxonomy, myDESMOND has adopted a holistic approach to cover the clinical-, behavioural- and emotional- aspects of diabetes self-management.

Features and functionalities of myDESMOND v2 include: (i) step challenges to prompt users to increase physical activity and track their own activity levels; (ii) “ask the expert” to provide users the opportunity to ask questions about their diabetes; (iii) “chat forum” to connect and communicate with others who live with T2DM; (iv) “our buddies initiative” to invite family and friends to join the step challenges and learn more about T2DM; (v) “action planning and decision making” to provide users the opportunity to set realistic and achievable goals.

Results: Currently, there are over 300 myDESMOND users across England. Average age of user is 60 (25-89); 45% are male. Twelve million steps have been recorded, since June 2018. Early qualitative work indicate the acceptability and usability of myDESMOND v2.

Conclusion: MyDESMOND is a theory- and evidence-based digital programme that is currently available under licence through the DESMOND National Office.