The Healthy Eating and Active Living to Reverse Diabetes Pilot Study

Overview

The HEAL Diabetes Program is a multicomponent intensive plant-forward healthy eating program designed to reverse diabetes. Several recent studies, most notably the Diabetes UK-funded Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial (DiRECT) in England and Scotland, have demonstrated that intensive programs for weight loss and weight loss maintenance can lead to long-term remission of diabetes for as many as half of patients with early Type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes. Furthermore, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has recommended that all patients with obesity and at highest risk for diabetes be referred to such intensive multicomponent behavioral weight loss interventions, but no such programs are available for people living in the low-income and underserved areas of Memphis. This effort will pilot an innovative, culturally tailored, and intensive healthy eating program designed to reverse diabetes based in the UTHSC Neighborhood Health Hub located in low-income neighborhoods to demonstrate that this approach will work in Memphis to improve and extend people's lives. The HEAL Diabetes Pilot Program will: a) engage and retain a minimum of 30 patients with Type 2 diabetes and obesity to participate in the program as well as 30 additional "control" patients who will receive routine care, and b) assess patient outcomes including weight loss and rates of diabetes remission using average blood sugar (hemoglobin A1c) over a six-month period. The healthy eating and active living to reverse diabetes (HEAL Diabetes) is a pilot study that aims to evaluate the feasibility, effectiveness, and operational and financial sustainability of a multicomponent health coach-supported nutrition intervention in a predominately African American population in Memphis, Tennessee. The investigators aim to assess study feasibility by evaluating recruitment, sample characteristics, intervention acceptability and procedural suitability. The investigators also aim to quantify and compare the treatment and control groups on primary outcomes including changes in body weight, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), and proportion of patients who achieved diabetes remission (HbA1c25 \< 6.5%) from baseline to 12-months. Additionally, the investigators aim to assess changes in diabetes self-efficacy and self-care activities and examine cost effectiveness of the multicomponent intervention. Drawing on evidence from DiRECT, MODEL, and related studies, the investigators hypothesize that the intervention arm will achieve greater weight loss and higher diabetes remission than the control. Additionally, the investigators hypothesize that the program will be operationally and financially sustainable.