nd

The 2 Annual DiabetesMine™ Design Challenge DiabetesTogetherTM

Diabete sToge ther TM

Coaching, learning, and support for success in daily living for
People With Diabetes

The Problem:

People with Diabetes (PWD) are challenged to follow prescribed medical care and live well every
day of every year, for a lifetime (and long ones we hope). Services provided by doctors and
CDE’s attend to the medical aspects of diabetes, which is fundamental, yet the rubber hits the
road when we are required to stay motivated, reduce stress, eat well, exercise, and engage in
healthful living. The shortage of Diabetes Educators, and hospital and health system diabetes
services which are limited to those with access and are mostly place-based, do not and cannot
fulfill all our needs. Research has continually shown that structured support from others (peer
coaching, group classes, individual coaching, etc) really works to improve health and happiness
of PWD, but experiments have been on small scale and limited time basis, or focused on
specialized populations. The internet and online communities for PWD have been tremendous for
sharing information and empowering patients. However, Web 2.0 is a public forum, and not all
PWD’s want to go “public” with personal and private health needs and concerns.

The BOTTOM LINE: PWD need a private, scalable technology solution to provide
coaching and support for successful daily living with Diabetes.

The Solution:

The solution to the problem is to provide coaching and peer support in a private web-based
setting using e-leaning and e-coaching technology. DiabetesTogetherTM will provide PWD’s
with services that support healthful daily living and are shown to be effective for supporting the
behavior changes required for success. DiabetesTogetherTM will:
1. Provide private and individual motivational coaching via web and phone
2. Build services based on philosophies of Positive Psychology (Seligman, 2002),
Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change (Prochaska, DiClemente,& Norcross (1992),
and Strengths-based coaching, Self-efficacy and advocacy, that really work
3. Enable facilitated eLearning and discussion to motivate PWD’s for success in daily living
4. Provide education and training to enable PWD’s to become group leaders and peer
coaches
5. Provide the technology and support for PWD’s to build sustainable DiabetesSuccess™
support groups.

DiabetesTogetherTM helps PWD’s find options for daily living and answers to questions such
as:
• What do other people in my situation do?
• What are solutions that work?
• What type of diet and healthy eating do others follow that have been successful?
• How do I rearrange my life to develop the exercise program I need?
• How do I keep going at this for the rest of my life?
• What help do I need when I can’t do it alone?
• How can I motivate myself to do this on an ongoing basis, for life?
• How can I set achievable goals to change behaviors and create action plans to achieve
those goals?
• What do I need to do personally to motivate myself to change what I’m doing now?

© 2008 Shelley R. Robbins, PhD June 2008 1

 nd
The 2 Annual DiabetesMine™ Design Challenge Entry DiabetesTogetherTM

The mission of DiabetesTogetherTM is

1) To use technology in a new way that enables and supports a healthy and successful life
for diabetics by making diabetes PERSONAL. By combining synchronous and
asynchronous e-learning technologies, DT enables advanced e-learning, individual and
group coaching, peer coaching, peer-led success groups, and facilitator/coach training.
2) To provide coaching and other services which are based on theories of Positive
Psychology (Seligman, 2002), and Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change
(Prochaska, DiClemente,& Norcross (1992), Self-efficacy and advocacy, which can lead
to the behavior changes we want and build resilience and strength.
3) To make services available anytime/anywhere to help us through whatever situations
life throws at us, and to give us the skills to embrace diabetes using our strengths and
developing resilience.
4) Think WeightWatchers® and PeerTrainer and Meetup.com for the diabetes community.
PWD’s can attend groups in their communities that are led by trained facilitators. They
learn skills to help them live successfully with diabetes in a supportive setting. Meetings
include the most up to date science-based information, nutrition, exercise, goal-setting,
motivation tips, and other success-strategies. In between meetings, members can sign
up to work individually with coaches, or can link with peers to provide continued support
through social networks.

DiabetesTogetherTM provides what the health system can’t do-- focus on a support-based,
wellness model that supports PWD to achieve a healthy and happy life.

NOTE: This program is not a substitute for medical care or basic diabetes education provided by
health care systems and Certified Diabetes Educators. It is intended to enhance and support the
success of diabetics in daily life. It is a community-based model (real time and e-community) that
is not affiliated with a single health care system, and intended to support diabetics as an adjunct
to the care of medical professionals.

How Diab ete sT ogeth er TM solves everyday problems and improves life for PWD’s

Susan, an adult T2, has been to diabetes educators and nutritionists. She visits her Dr. regularly
and her A1c has been going up. She knows just what she is supposed to do, what she should
eat, that she should test regularly, but she just doesn’t. She knows it time to do something, but
where to start? She logs on to DiabetesTogetherTM and decides to sign up and register
online for individual coaching. Prior to her session, she reviews the material in the resource
center, takes some surveys to help her determine what her strengths are, and considers what
goals she wants to set with her coach. At the prearranged time, she and her coach talk on the
phone, work together to set goals for healthy behaviors, and look at what’s getting in the way.
She uses her strengths to help her be successful at daily living, gains more understanding of
what trips her up, and feels confident she can do what she needs to. At subsequent sessions,
Susan modifies her goals as she makes progress on existing ones. The coach is there to be her
cheerleader and thinking partner.

Mike, a teen T1, has just gotten a pump. His Dr. and CDE think he might want to connect with
other teens with pumps. He logs in and signs up for a peer coach, who has received training in
coaching via an online and telephone-based class. His peer-coach, Tony, is also a teen T1
pumper, and he and Mike meet together in a private chat room, both real time and
asynchronously. While Mike got the technical information on his pump from his CDE, Tony helps
Mike learn what it’s really like to be pumping, and encourages Mike to ask lots of questions, and
directs him to some good online resources. Being part of the peer coaching process gives Mike
the confidence he needs, and he decides he wants to take part in peer coach training next year.

Debbie knows how to use email and surf the net, and has tried some online forums, but when it
comes to helping her manage her challenges in daily living, she likes the support of meeting with

© 2008 Shelley R. Robbins, PhD June 2008 2

 nd
The 2 Annual DiabetesMine™ Design Challenge Entry DiabetesTogetherTM

friends over a cup of coffee. Debbie is a working mom and knows there are others at her church
and in her community with diabetes. She’s searched in her community and can only find one
support group at the local hospital that meets when she’s at work. She’d like to start a group that
meets at the church for other working PWD’s but doesn’t have the confidence to do so. She logs
TM
in and downloads a packet to help her start her DiabetesSuccess group—it includes welcome
letters, meeting agendas, handouts, and all that she needs to get started. She signs up for a tele-
class next month that will start the process to train her to be a facilitator. Debbie is excited to get
her group going, and DiabetesTogetherTM has an automated function to help her sign up
group members. While the group meets at her church, they also have a private online space
where they can encourage each other in between meetings.

Stu, a techie baby boomer has attended classes and consulted with CDE’s, but they weren’t at
the level of learning that he wants. He reads journal articles and continually surfs the web for
state of the art health information. Stu logs in to DiabetesTogetherTM and starts and leads an
ongoing success group. DT matches him with similar-minded PWD’s who share his interests.

Take a tour of Diabet esTo gether TM

Log on to the website (not currently operational, but stay tuned). Here are some of the things
you’ll find.

Stop by the Learning Center

Sign up for a facilitated class on a variety of motivational topics
Suggest topics for new classes
Next, visit the Coaching Center
Request an individualized session with a certified Health Coach
Go through the Peer Coach training session
Get matched with a Peer-Coach with similar characteristics
Sign up for a Coaching Group that meets weekly
Take a tour of the private coaching and chat rooms
Take online surveys to assess your strengths
Visit the SuccessGroup™ Center
Check out the wide variety of materials to Print
Review and download sample meeting agendas and curriculum
Sign up for E-community support for community-based success groups
Finally, visit the Training Center
Learn to be a peer-coach
Learn to be a SuccessGroup™ facilitator
Learn to facilitate online classes

The Innovator: Dr. Shelley Robbins --- shelleyrobbins@comcast.net

I’m building a solution with personalized services that I dream of to support my own care, as well
as to support the needs of other PWD’s I’ve met since being diagnosed with T2 diabetes in 2000.
I’ve held senior leadership positions in e-learning, virtual education, and consulting, and have
been teaching, coaching, learning, and leading virtually with technology since 1998. I’ve built
online curricula and trained online instructors, and have trained as a coach. I now think it’s time to
put my expertise to use to fill a much needed gap in technology-enabled service delivery to
PWDs. The ultimate success with Diabetes is what we do in daily living. We need good medical
care, but we also need to be motivated, have access to good information, social support,
motivational support, education, and ideas that work.. The challenge we face is how to make
healthy choices, learn, solve problems, and sustain this over time. That’s why I invented
DiabetesTogether™.

© 2008 Shelley R. Robbins, PhD June 2008 3