My Path to Healthy Life

Description:

The 'My Path to Healthy Life' site is designed to help people with diabetes to make behavioural changes in order to improve their health. The site aims to assist in making decisions around diabetes care (such as medication taking), exercise and food consumption in order to help manage diabetes and prevent heart disease and other serious complications of diabetes. There are several sections on the site, including 'My ABCs' which provides a graphical display of self-reported haemoglobin, blood pressure, and cholesterol results; a moderated forum called 'Ask an Expert' where users can post questions to experts; and a 'My Resources' section which consists of resources such as web links, recipes, and printable handouts. The site also includes features such as quiz questions and motivational tips. It is recommended that in the first month or so you visit the website at least three times per week to track your progress.

Service URL:

http://mypathtohealthylife.com

Agency Responsible:

Kaiser Permanente.

Details

Format:

Website.

Intervention Type:

Educational (primarily educational material or psychoeducation).

Course Length:

Long (more than 5 modules). 3 times weekly for at least a month

Support Option:

Clinical support. Through an online forum

Target Audience

Primary Category:

Diabetes.

Target Audience:

Adult.

Languages:

English and Spanish.

Access

Fee:

Unknown.

Access:

Closed: Research participation.

Contact Details:

techsupport@mypathtohealthylife.com

Research evidence

Research Trials:

1

Research RCTs:

0

Outcome Summary:

One trial examining the effectiveness of 'My Path to Healthy Life' compared three groups: use of the 'My Path to Healthy Life' website alone, use of the website plus human support and a control 'enhanced treatment as usual' group. After a period of 4 months, both intervention groups showed significant improvements compared to the treatment as usual group (but with no significant differences between website only and website plus support conditions) on most engagement variables (such as number of log-ins, number of website components visited at least twice, number of days entering self-monitoring data, number of visits to the 'Action Plan' section, and time on the website). Overall, greater use of the website, and especially engagement in self-monitoring, was related to greater improvement in eating patterns. There was also a significant relationship between self-monitoring and improvement in physical activity, but no biological measures (such as BMI, haemoglobin, cholesterol, blood pressure, smoking status, etc.) were significantly associated with the engagement measures. Indeed, overall, both intervention conditions significantly improved health behaviours compared to treatment as usual over a period of 12 months - but the effect sizes were small, suggesting most of the treatment effects were obtained in the first 4 months. These results do indicate that the site might be useful in managing diabetes, but further research is needed comparing 'My Path to Healthy Life' to a 'no treatment' control condition.

Recommended rating, reviewer 1:

Recommended rating, reviewer 2:

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Research paper citations

Evidence evaluation studies:
Glasgow, R.E., Kurz, D., King, D., Dickman, J.M., Faber, A.J., Halterman, E., Woolley, T., Toobert, D.J., Strycker, L.A., Estabrooks, P.A., Osuna, D., Ritzwoller, D. (2012) Twelve-month outcomes of an Internet-based diabetes self-management support program. Patient Education and Counseling, 87: 81-92.

Glasgow, R. E., Christiansen, S. M., Kurz, D., King, D. K., Woolley, T., Faber, A. J., Estabrooks, P. A., Strycker, L., Toobert, D., Dickman, J. (2011). Engagement in a diabetes self-management website: usage patterns and generalizability of program use. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 13(1), e9.

Glasgow, R.E., Kurz, D., King, D., Dickman, J.M., Faber, A.J., Halterman, E., Woolley, T., Toobert, D.J., Strycker, L.A., Estabrooks, P.A., Osuna, D., Ritzwoller, D. (2010) Outcomes of minimal and moderate support versions of an internet-based diabetes self-management support program. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 25(12): 1315-22.

Additional References:
Glasgow, R. E., Strycker, L. A., Kurz, D., Faber, A., Bell, H., Dickman, J. M., Halterman, E., Estabrooks, P. A., Osuna, D. (2010). Recruitment for an internet-based diabetes self-management program: scientific and ethical implications.Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 40(1), 40-48.