AMBER- AMBulatory Education and Reinforcement

Study design

Patients with diabetes enrolled in a peer support program are given the opportunity to use an automated telephone-based education system, to supplement their care. The patients are able to call the support system at their convenience and asked questions relating to nutrition and their dietary habits, over a series of 8 structured calls. Each of the 8 calls follows a similar scripted structure which includes 3 main stages; assessment of the patient' behaviours and current knowledge, feedback and information on a given nutritional topic, followed by suggested goal setting and summary. In order to provide relevant and targeted guidance the information and advice delivered to each patient reflects their individual answers. This personalised support is facilitated by each patient using a unique password, which the automated system stores and recognises. To ensure the wealth of delivered information is sufficiently digested between calls, and support is available over a prolonged period, the system is designed to encourage patients to call once a week over 8 weeks. Therefore, if a patient calls in quick succession (i.e. with 5 days of their last call) the system prompts them to call back in a given number of days. If any problems or queries arise from accessing the automated telephone-based education system the patients are advised to relay these concerns to their peer leader.