Adapting the Diabetes Prevention Program for low- and middle-income countries: preliminary implementation findings from lifestyle Africa

Rates of cardiovascular disease and diabetes are rising in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), but there is a dearth of research devoted to developing and evaluating chronic disease interventions in these settings, particularly in Africa. Lifestyle Africa is a novel, culturally adapted version of the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) being evaluated in an ongoing community-based cluster-randomized trial in an underresourced urban community in South Africa. The purpose of this study is to describe the adaptations and adaptation process used to develop the program and to report preliminary implementation findings from the first wave of groups (n = 11; 200 individuals) who participated in the intervention. The RE-AIM model and community advisory boards guided the adaptation process. The program was designed to be delivered by community health workers (CHWs) through video-assisted sessions and supplemented with text messages. Participants in the trial were overweight and obese members of existing chronic disease “support groups” served via CHWs. Implementation outcomes included completion of sessions, session attendance, fidelity of session delivery, and participant satisfaction. Results indicated that 10/11 intervention groups completed all 17 core sessions. Average attendance across all sessions and groups was 54% and the percentage who attended at least 75% of sessions across all groups was 35%. Fidelity monitoring indicated a mean of 84% of all required procedures were completed while overall communication skills were rated as “good" to “excellent”. These preliminary results support the feasibility of culturally adapting the DPP for delivery by CHWs in underresourced settings in LMIC.