Developing a Positive Psychology Intervention to Improve Health Behaviors in Type 2 Diabetes: Qualitative Research

The investigators are proposing to enroll 31 patients with type 2 DM following an outpatient visit to the MGH Diabetes Center or during admission to Ellison 9-11 inpatient units (or sometime in the following 14 days if the participant is not available to complete the interview after consenting for the study).

For these interviews, the investigators will discuss positive emotional states that patients have experienced and talk about ways they might increase these states. The investigators will also touch on health behaviors in which the patient has engaged and whether positive emotions played a role in completing these behaviors. To enhance the accessibility of this project, the investigators chose to allow patients to complete interviews over the phone. Interactions by phone (rather than in-person visits) can allow for patients who are being discharged from the hospital or have no time to complete the interview during a clinic visit.

The investigators will also conduct a follow up phone call 3 months post-hospitalization during which the investigators will collect mood and anxiety data from participants. The purpose of this data will be to better characterize the population, allowing the investigators to better customize the intervention for this population.

There are two study visits (the first of which can be broken into two parts if the participant cannot complete the interview in the hospital after consenting to the study). The first visit will consist of three brief scales of mood and anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, and Life Orientation Test-Revised) that will take 10 minutes, followed by a 45 minute interview. Participants also will report their race and ethnicity. The second visit will take place 3 months after the initial visit and will be conducted over the phone. This second visit will consist of the same three brief scales of mood and anxiety.

Baseline Data: Baseline information about enrolled subjects will also be obtained from the patients, care providers, the structured assessments of mood and anxiety symptoms as above, and the electronic medical record as required for characterization of our population. This information will include data regarding medical history (history of cardiac illness, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, and current smoking), current medical variables (admission diagnosis if applicable, HbA1c), medications, length of hospital stay if applicable, and sociodemographic data (age, gender, race/ethnicity, living alone). This information will help the investigators to ensure that the population the investigators recruit is a representative population of patients with type 2 DM.