Aims
A Space to Think is an innovations fund project that offers a ‘non-medical’ space to patients who are strug- gling to manage their condition. Short- term psychological intervention was provided to individuals with type 1 or type 2, with a HbA1c > 75mmol/mol with the aim of reducing HbA1c, improving psychological wellbeing and reducing health service use costs.
Rationale
The service was established in recognition that psychological and social factors interfere with the individ- ual’s ability to prioritise their diabetes self-care. Evidence suggests that offering psychological intervention in people with diabetes leads to improvements in health-related outcomes, psychological wellbeing and reduces healthcare costs32. The input of a clinical psychologist provided the space to engage in the practi-
cal problem solving of the complexities of managing diabetes, that this is simply not the time, opportunity, or skill-set to facilitate, within the traditional medical setting.
Development
Patients received a cognitive behavioural therapy based intervention. The number of sessions ranged from one to 16, with an average of eight sessions. Typical issues worked with:
» Problem solving challenges of diabetes in the context of competing life priorities » Acceptance and integration of diabetes into the individuals identity
» Low mood or depression affecting diabetes self-care
» Anxiety (needle phobia, fear of hypoglycaemia, fear of complications) » Eating issues (eg emotional or binge eating)
» Assertiveness skills (eg to set boundaries with others to enable health needs to be prioritised) » ‘Myth-busting’ (eg confusion about differences between type 1 and type 2)
» Unhelpful narratives (eg ‘My dad died of diabetes so what’s the point in trying?’)
The clinical psychologist attended primary care multidisciplinary group meetings in the locality. The aim was to educate primary care clinicians about psychological issues in diabetes patients and their management in primary care and to facilitate referrals to the service. Patients admitted with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) were proactively targeted as this group are often repeat users of unscheduled care.
Outcomes
A mean reduction in HbA1c of 12 mmol/mol has been achieved to date (range 1-51 mmol/mol). Improve- ments in psychological wellbeing have also been demonstrated through reductions in scores on the PHQ-9, GAD-7 and Diabetes Distress scales.
Anticipated cost savings: financial analysis showed that 25 of the 50 patients involved in the pilot have been in secondary care over the last year for 83 episodes at a cost of £105, 609. Of these secondary care episodes, 49 episodes totalling £62,788 were for diabetes-specific avoidable complications. Using Strat- ton33 epidemiological modelling of improvements in health associated with reduced HbA1c we could expect
a saving of £57,266 for these 50 patients next year. Further, given that psychological interventions equips patients with long term self-management skills, it is reasonable to predict savings related to avoidable ad- missions to continue over the lifetime of the patient.
If all patients with diabetes in Hillingdon who had been admitted last year were seen by the service and achieved a reduction in HbA1c of 10mmol/mol, we would expect this to lead to an expected cost saving of £551,224 per year on admissions for avoidable complications.
Patient feedback has been excellent. Patients have reported a ‘non-medical’ space to think about diabetes as invaluable in integrating the self-management and emotional demands of the condition. The service is a finalist in the ‘Best CCG Initiative’ in the 2014 Quality in Care Awards.
Contact
Aims
The Diabetes CAT (Cognitive Analytic Therapy) service offers integrated psychological care within a second- ary care diabetes clinic, including the Young Adults clinic, for patients who experience psychological and emotional difficulties which act as a barrier to diabetes self-care. Diabetes specific psychotherapy aims to improve psychological well-being, improve glycaemic control and reduce the unproductive over use of nurses education. Longer-term aims are to reduce diabetes complications and reduce associated costs.
Rationale
Patients with diabetes often have complex physical and mental health Issues. Left untreated, mental health problems can significantly reduce the motivation and energy needed for self-management and lead to poor adherence to treatment plans, resulting in poorer physical health outcomes and greater service costs.
Development
CAT is a focused, time-limited psychotherapy, found to be helpful with a range of medical conditions including diabetes, poorly controlled asthma, medically unexplained symptoms, chronic pain, oncology, and also con- textually within liaison psychiatry. CAT is indicated for both routine and complex presentations, particularly where diabetes care is complicated by personality and relationship issues. Within secondary care diabetes, a significant number of referrals are complex cases and require a high intensity therapy. Common difficulties addressed include:
» Eating disorders- insulin omission emotionally related eating and comfort eating
» Self harm – patients report actively self-harming and punishing via poor diabetes control
» Experiences of trauma, abuse, neglect and deprivation which are repeated in relation to self and diabetes » Borderline personality disorder
» Gastroparesis
Psychotherapy is a routine part of the package of diabetes care and sits in the diabetes clinic alongside the doctor, nurse, dietician, podiatrist and eye screening, thus ‘normalising’ psychological care and reducing stigma. It allows access at the point of contact and engages patients who may not traditionally have ac- cessed psychological care. Referrals are in-house and broadly represent the socio-economic demographics of the clinic population.
Outcomes
The Diabetes CAT service arose from an audit which confirmed that a range of psychological and emotional difficulties affected patient’s ability and/or willingness to be self-caring. An RCT compared the effects of CAT and intensive DSNE with a group of type 1 patients. The outcome showed significant sustained improve- ments in the HbA1c levels of the CAT control group. Interpersonal difficulties also improved after CAT. In contrast to DSNE, this improvement continued so that at the nine month follow-up visit, the changes were significant (mean fall in HbA1c = 2%, P = 0.002 and P = 0.03 for the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP) scores, Fosbury 1997).
Recent outcomes for the young adults diabetes clinic are equally positive. Psychological screening resulted in 15 young adults age 16 to 23 from a clinic population of 60 being offered CAT. Data was analysed over a 12 month period using the CORE (Clinical outcomes in Routine Evaluation). The questionnaire was admin- istered pre and post therapy to measure outcome in four dimensions: wellbeing, problems, functioning and risk. Of the 10 young adults who completed, there was an improvement in outcomes in all four dimensions, indicating a global reduction in distress (mean score pre- intervention 61/136. score post intervention 17/136). The results indicate early intervention using brief psychotherapy improves psychological well being in young adults and improves engagement with self-care and Diabetes services.
The Young Adults Diabetes Service has been short-listed for the 2014 Integrated Physical and Mental Health Positive Practise in Mental Health awards sponsored by Kings Health Care Partners.
Contact
Stephanie Singham, Diabetes Specialist Psychotherapist, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust [email protected]