Patients' and stakeholders' experiences of a personalized self-management SUPport program (P-SUP) for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and/or coronary heart disease: a qualitative process evaluation

BACKGROUND: Chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus and coronary heart disease cause medical, social, and economic burdens worldwide. Disease management programs in Germany mostly lack components to improve patients' self-management and health-promoting lifestyles despite clear guideline recommendations. Therefore, a Personalized Self-Management Support Program (P-SUP) was developed, which includes: (1) peer support groups; (2) telephone coaching; (3) feedback reports and, (4) a web portal. This study aims to explore patients' and implementing stakeholders' experiences in the implementation of P-SUP to identify barriers and facilitators to the implementation of the intervention. METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted using face-to-face focus group interviews with participating patients and telephone-based one-to-one expert interviews with implementing stakeholders, involved in the delivery of the intervention. The transcribed interview reports were analyzed using qualitative content analysis, and the contents were categorized according to Donabedian's Structure-Process-Outcome framework. RESULTS: A total of six themes among patients (N = 35) and five themes among implementing stakeholders (N = 32) represent the experiences. The patient themes were: (1) technical conditions, (2) indoor facilities, (3) group composition, (4) acceptance of digital components, (5) supervision and feedback and (6) impact on lifestyle behavior. The themes among the implementing stakeholders were: (1) multiprofessional approach, (2) human resources, (3) patient acceptance, (4) supervision and feedback and (5) impact on lifestyle behavior. CONCLUSIONS: Multiprofessional interventions such as P-SUP appear to be valuable for patients and implementing stakeholders. Although infrastructural barriers made the implementation of peer support and digital patient education difficult, patients rated the exchange with peers and experts on health-related topics positively. The lack of supervision and feedback during the course of the intervention might be compensated by regular telephone coaching. The findings from this study can be used in future studies to guide researchers and implementing stakeholders and to improve the feasibility and effectiveness of complex interventions in different contexts. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The P-SUP study was registered in the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS) on 16/07/2020 under the registration number DRKS00020592.