A Virtual Skills Centre on Behaviour Management in Chronic Disease for Lay People in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs)

Introduction: Diabetes complications can be reduced and/or prevented by providing skills in behavioural management to lay people e.g. volunteers, family and friends. With a critical shortage of trained staff in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to deliver these, lay people are a solution to fill this gap. Current programmes in LMICs are not suitable for lay people as they are (i) too complex i.e. for high education professionals and (ii) not easily accessible. We aim to address these two barriers through both a face to face and online virtual skills centre (VSC). Objectives: This paper describes the development of an online VSC that will provide access to those caring for people with diabetes within a community setting; examined the suitability and usability of the VSC using qualitative methods. Methods Drawing on the DoTTI framework for developing an online program, the VSC was i) designed and developed using psychological techniques and ii) tested for early iteration using participatory workshops. Results: A total of 23 participants from Bengaluru, India, both lay and clinicians, tested the VSC. The main themes identified were: empowerment for lay people; suitable for locals in a community setting; local services needed; user-friendly focused. Conclusion: This study found that a theory and evidence-based approach as the basis for an online behavioural management skills programme was acceptable to users. A substantive pilot will be conducted to examine whether the VSC is effective in reducing/preventing diabetes complications and how to implement into a community setting across other LMICs and chronic diseases.