Referral of patients to diabetes prevention programmes from community campaigns and general practices: mixed-method evaluation using the RE-AIM framework and Normalisation Process Theory

Each year around 5–10% of people with non-diabetic hyperglycaemia will develop type 2 diabetes mellitus. Diabetes prevention is a national and global public health concern. Diabetes Prevention Programmes, which seek to identify at-risk individuals and support entry to health improvement initiatives, recognise that enhanced identification and referral of at-risk individuals is required within primary care and beyond, through community-focused prevention approaches. We report an evaluation of a demonstrator site for the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme in the UK, which piloted an enhanced Primary Care referral programme (sampling from patients identified as at-risk from general practice databases) and a Community identification programme (sampling from the general population through opportunistic identification in community locations) in an effort to maximise participation in prevention services.

We used mixed-methods evaluation to assess the impact of the two referral routes on participation in the Diabetes Prevention Programmes in line with the RE-AIM Framework (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance). Individual level patient data was descriptively analysed to assess identifications and eligible referrals made in each route. Semi-structured interviews conducted with referral staff and key stakeholders were analysed using thematic analysis and informed by Normalisation Process Theory.

The nurse facilitated primary care referral route provided 88% of all referrals to the telephone DPP, compared to the community referral route which provided 5%, and the proportion joining the programme was higher among primary care referrals (45%) than community referrals (22%), and retention rates were higher (73% compared to 50%). The nurse-facilitated route integrated more easily into existing clinical processes. The community programme was impeded by a lack of collaborative inter-agency working which obscured the intended focus on high-risk populations despite conversion rates (numbers identified at risk who entered prevention programmes) being highest in areas of high deprivation.

The study demonstrates the interaction of components, with effective Adoption and Implementation necessary to support Reach. The NPT analysis demonstrated the importance of consensus around not only the need for such programmes but agreement on how they can be delivered. Future programmes should support inter-agency communication and collaboration, and focus identification efforts on areas of high-risk.