NIDDK Share Plus: Continuous Glucose Monitoring With Data Sharing in Older Adults With T1D and Their Care Partners

Older adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) have an increased risk of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia that can result in grave health consequences, such as seizures, falls, and myocardial infarctions. Care partners (e.g., spouses, friends) regularly become part of the diabetes care team to assist in self-management as a person with diabetes ages. A technological advancement that is available to people with diabetes and their care partners to address harmful hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia is to use continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), with a data-sharing app that allows the older adult with T1D and their care partner (dyad) to see glucose data on their smart-phones and to receive an alert before hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia occurs. Our long-term goal is to leverage the full potential of technology and care partner interventions to optimize the support that care partners can provide for effective glucose management in older adults with T1D. Our overall objective is to test an intervention, called Share plus, aimed at improving the use of data sharing between persons with diabetes and their care partners in order to maximize the benefits of CGM. The Share plus intervention provides instruction to current CGM users about how to set up the data sharing app, dyadic communication and problem solving, and how to establish a data-sharing action plan for older adults with T1D and their care partners.

Our central hypothesis is that Share plus will result in increased time-in-range and decreased diabetes distress for both persons with diabetes (PWD) and their care partners (CPs) compared to the control group. The rationale for this pilot study is that demonstrating the efficacy of Share plus will provide new opportunities for a clinically useful approach to increase time in glucose range and decrease diabetes distress among older adults with T1D and their care partners. The central hypothesis will be tested by pursuing three specific aims: 1) evaluate feasibility, usability, and acceptability of the Share plus intervention compared to the control group receiving data sharing with diabetes self-management education, 2) evaluate the effect of Share plus intervention on time-in-range and Diabetes Distress, and 3) explore the differences between groups in PWD and CP dyadic appraisal and coping, quality of life, diabetes self-care and care partner burden. To test our central hypothesis, we will conduct a pilot randomized 1:1 control trial in older adults with T1D already using CGM (N=80 dyads) in a telehealth format where the intervention group will receive data sharing and Share plus and the control group will receive diabetes self-management education and assistance setting up the data sharing app. The trial will include a 12-week active intervention to determine a change in primary outcomes and a 12-week observation-only phase to determine maintenance of changes. The research proposed in this application is innovative because it provides a needed and substantive departure from the status quo by bringing a dyadic perspective of T1D management using data-sharing technology.