Sodexo’s Digital Telehealth Diabetes Prevention Program—Path to Improvement
By Kimberly Wolf, MS, RD, LDN, CDE
Eighty million people—that’s twice the number of people living in California—have prediabetes and are on the path to developing Type 2 diabetes.
Without making changes in their lifestyles,15 to 30% of the people in the U.S. who have prediabetes will develop Type 2 diabetes within five years. The American Diabetes Association estimated that in 2018, more than 500 million people worldwide already had Type 2 diabetes. Over time, diabetes can lead to heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and other serious illnesses and complications, including kidney failure, blindness, and nerve damage leading to amputation. Prediabetes needs to be taken seriously too, as it also raises the risk of heart disease and stroke.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. Initiatives like the National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) provide education, encouragement and structure to help people with prediabetes lose weight and maintain that weight loss—a significant step in preventing the development of the disease.
Sodexo Tackles Prediabetes Using Telehealth
Sodexo, a world leader in quality of life services, wanted to determine if the National DPP could be implemented using telehealth.
While telehealth has been used to diagnose and treat illnesses, there is a significant opportunity to use this technology to help more people with prediabetes participate in DPP.
Sodexo created a digital diabetes pilot program with the goal of helping participants with prediabetes lose 5% of their initial body weight within one year. For a 200-pound person, that’s just 10 pounds.
Participants who were identified as being at risk for diabetes through their insurance company’s online assessment were invited to join the year-long program. Six of Sodexo’s registered dietitians became certified DPP lifestyle coaches.
Using the CDC-based curriculum, the coaches facilitated eight classes that taught healthier lifestyle habits and behavioral adjustment coping strategies. The 19 program participants were given a digital scale, a wearable device, and a mobile health app to track progress.
Throughout the program, participants learned about healthy eating and meal preparation, stress/behavioral management, and daily activity through live-streamed, interactive classes. Participants attended classes via their laptops or mobile devices at a regularly scheduled time. During the classes, participants interact with the coach and other class members.
“The DPP class was designed to fit into the participants' lifestyle where they develop healthy habits. The 12-month commitment gives participants adequate time to turn learned behavior into a part of life.”
At home, participants weighed themselves on a digital scale, uploaded photos of their meals and snacks as a food journal, and monitored daily physical activity by syncing their Fitbit to the mobile app. Participants could use the platform to message the coaches with questions or concerns.
“The benefit of a small group is to make the participants feel supported and encouraged that they have the ability to implement healthy lifestyle strategies into their lifestyle,” Wolf says. “If a participant had voiced a concern in an area such as inadequate time to participate in physical activity, another participant could talk about how they altered their daily routine and offer different activity ideas. The group support is a big component of the diabetes prevention program.”