The development of a psychoeducational group intervention for overweight women with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A service evaluation

Abstract

Aims: A psychoeducational group intervention was developed and evaluated as a new service for overweight women with type 2 diabetes. The intervention was holistic in its focus - and aimed to enhance self esteem and body image in addition to encouraging realistic and gradual weight loss using a 'healthy eating' model. Methods: The intervention encompassed sessions on healthy eating, activity, education and improving self-esteem. Assessment data was collected at four time points (1) Pre-run in, (2) Pre-intervention, (3) Post-intervention, (4) Six month follow-up; and consisted of physiological measures (HbA1c, total cholesterol, LDL, HDL and weight) and self-report measures of mood (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), self-esteem (Culture-free Self-Esteem Inventory), interpersonal problems (Inventory of Interpersonal Problems), eating attitudes and behaviours (Eating Disorder Inventory and the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire). Participants also completed an open ended questionnaire enabling a brief weekly qualitative evaluation of the group process and content. Results: Two groups completed the intervention (n=19). Having ensured there were no baseline differences of concern between the two groups their data was combined for the purpose of analysis. Repeated measures multivariate analyses of variance were used to explore predicted changes in physiological and psychological outcomes across the intervention period. Weight was maintained across the intervention and follow-up period with no significant weight gain or loss for the combined group. There were significant improvements across the intervention period on the following psychological measures - Inventory of Interpersonal problems 'Difficulties socialising' (F= 7.89, p