Talking About Diabetes and Healthy Lifestyle in Primary Healthcare—Translating Research Findings into Practice

This chapter discusses three inter-related New Zealand research projects conducted by the Applied Research on Communication in Health Group to address a lack of resources and strategies available to primary care clinicians when discussing diabetes management and healthy lifestyles with their patients. The projects comprised: (1) a longitudinal observation of 36 patient journeys from the onset of diabetes, involving analysis of consultations and interviews, followed by ‘feed-back/feed-forward’ workshops to improve provider-patient communication; (2) a narrative study, Diabetes Stories, exploring patient experiences of living with diabetes, with findings presented in the form of a public online educational resource; and (3) TabOO (Talking about Overweight and Obesity) comprised observational and interview studies examining how practitioners talk to patients about weight management in routine consultations. An intervention tool for NZ general practice based on this work is currently being piloted in five local practices with Ministry of Health funding.