BACKGROUND
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a complex and multifaceted condition that requires adopting a healthy lifestyle. Health coaching (HC) is an effective approach used in diabetes management to empower people towards behavioral change and help manage their blood sugar levels. There is a need to investigate how technology is being used in HC interventions for diabetes management.
OBJECTIVE
Therefore, this study aims to review the literature on technology use in HC interventions for type-2 diabetes management.
METHODS
A scoping review of the literature was conducted through a search of PubMed, Embase, and Scopus Databases. We included peer-reviewed articles that focused on HC for people with type-2 diabetes and included the HbA1c drop as one of the main outcomes of the intervention.
RESULTS
Twenty-eight records were extracted from 4315 individual articles retrieved from the search strategy. The analysis encompassed various intervention designs, HC dynamics, and theoretical grounds. Notably, the focus was directed toward technology adoption and glycemic control outcomes. Twenty interventions reported a significant drop in HbA1C. Twenty-four studies integrated technological elements to deliver the interventions where the predominant reliance was on conventional phone usage. Only seven of the included studies incorporated mobile phones as part of their interventions, and within this subset, merely four studies employed mobile apps.
CONCLUSIONS
The findings illuminate the dynamic interplay between technology, HC strategies, and health outcomes. Although HC is an effective approach for glycemic control in people with diabetes mellitus, the scarcity of utilizing prevalent digital technologies suggests potential opportunities for enhancing diabetes management interventions.