Development, Feasibility, and Efficacy of a Web-Based Intervention to Reduce Psychological Barriers to Insulin Therapy among Adults with Type 2 Diabetes (Stage 2: Pilot Study)

Intervention group participants will receive access to the novel psycho-educational website. The website will provide content on 8 key barriers (concerns/questions) that adults with type 2 diabetes have about starting insulin therapy, identified by conducting a review of the literature. The 8 barriers include: 1) Does insulin therapy mean that my diabetes is more serious; 2) Does insulin therapy cause diabetes-related complications; 3) Will I gain weight if I inject insulin; 4) Is it my fault that I need insulin injections; 5) Will injecting hurt; 6) Does injecting insulin increase my risk of hypoglycaemia; 7) What will others think of me if I inject insulin; and 8) Is injecting insulin a burden. This includes content which maps onto commonly reported negative attitudes toward insulin among Australians with T2D, as measured by the widely used and validated Insulin Treatment Appraisal Scale (ITAS). The website content, structure and key messaging will be informed by behaviour change theory and incorporate relevant behaviour changes techniques with appropriate methods of application (e.g. text, quizzes, videos). For example, quotes and video messages from people with diabetes to normalise beliefs and attitudes; improve expectations about future insulin use, as well as modelling positive self-care behaviours and improving self-efficacy through observational learning. Participants in the intervention arm will have 2 weeks to access the web-based intervention. They resource is self-paced so that within the 2-week period participants may choose to read the content that is of relevance/interest to them. Using Google analytics, we will track each participants usage on the website including, how many times they access the resource, how long they spend on the resource and also each page, what pages they view.