Improving the use of DTx in behavioural health

By Dr. Arbinder Singal, MBBS (Gold Medalist), DNB, M. Ch (AIIMS, Gold Medalist), CEO & Co-founder, Fitterfly

How DTx drives behavioural changes in people for better outcomes in diabetes management

We all are guilty of not sticking to our healthy new year resolutions. Even though we are highly motivated, we are unable to make sustainable changes. Why?

Easier said than done

We must understand that change is not just about replacing one habit with another; it is a process. For instance, if you have to imbibe a habit like waking up early in the morning, not only will you have to set your alarm at 6 AM, you will also have to go to bed on time (probably at 10 PM), have dinner on time (at 8 PM) set your routines the right way to change one habit. Often we fail because we consider just one aspect of the behaviour and not the process. For example, it becomes difficult to wake up at 6 AM if you consistently go to bed at 2 AM.

“Lifestyle habits are a part of one’s belief system. It is difficult to change one’s belief system,” says Dr Neha Verma, Head – Department of Psychology and Wellbeing (Clinical Psychologist), Fittterfly Healthtech Pvt Ltd, a digital therapeutic company. She explains, “Many people remain in a state of denial with their bad habits because they are scared they won’t be able to give it up. Like there are people who would not want to give up their sugary chai and biscuit despite knowing that it could lead to a spike in their blood sugar levels. Here we have to go deeper with such members and educate them about their consequences and help them break certain belief systems to make healthier choices.”

How DTx helps to drive behavioural changes in people living with diabetes

At Fitterfly, psycho-therapeutic behaviour change interventions form the core of all our diabetes care programs. This helps experts delve deep to know the mental blocks that stop a person from achieving their health goals.

Assessing them in-depth:

At Fitterfly, we believe that we need to start from where our members are. One size doesn’t fit all. A baseline analysis on 250 patients at Fitterfly saw that 44% of patients suffered from diabetes distress, and about 56% of patients had a high emotional burden of the condition (were emotionally disturbed after the diagnosis). This could impact one’s sugar levels drastically. However, with proper intervention and counselling, 83% of people were ready to incorporate the various lifestyle changes for proper blood sugar control. The numbers speak for themselves. This shows, given proper guidance and support, people are ready to change their behaviour for the better.

Here are ways in which DTx can help:

Understanding the pain points: Psycho-therapeutic interventions help experts get deeper into the case of people who get diabetes. “The prevalence of diabetes has a lot to do with lifestyle factors like – diet, mood, exercise, stress, sleep, motivation, behavioural aspects, alcohol consumption and more. So, we need to look into all these lifestyle factors when we talk about diabetes management. Without addressing the root cause of stress or anxiety which leads to unhealthy lifestyle choices, diet and exercise won’t help one to achieve the desired outcomes,” explains Dr Neha. Guided therapy and counselling, even when done remotely, can help people take care of their thoughts, behaviour, feelings, emotions, and moods, all of which positively affect one’s blood sugar and promise better outcomes.

Proper handholding to form a habit: For any action to turn into a habit, one needs 21 days, and it takes 90 days to make it a part of your lifestyle. The diabetes care programs at Fitterfly are designed in such a way that it helps members learn some healthy ways of living within 90 days or three months. This isn’t easy, and that is why psycho-therapeutic interventions become necessary. “If you try to change your lifestyle through diet and exercise, you might be capable of doing so but won’t be able to sustain it for too long. With proper guidance and counselling one can rectify the emotions, thoughts and mental roadblocks that can make one go off track with diet. Constant support and hand holding helps them to achieve these emotional milestones for managing diabetes better,” says Dr Neha

Having a holistic approach: Changing one behaviour is changing many small things simultaneously, as mentioned before. Therefore, psychologists help people make lifestyle changes taking every aspect of their lives – stress, sleep, food choices, and anxiety. For example, a small survey done on 150 members saw that 83% of them suffered sleep disturbances which could have a huge impact on one’s blood sugar levels. Bad sleep hygiene can wreck one’s blood sugar readings despite following a healthy diet and exercising daily. “In this case, guided meditation and teaching good sleep hygiene becomes necessary,” informs Dr Neha.

Helping them build a support system: Behavourial change needs a lot of support from family and well-wishers. Lack of support can make one fall back to old habits. Educating patients and their families become the crux of behavioural therapy in DTx.

Helping them make a conscious choice at all times: Even with psycho-therapeutic interventions, the care given is very systematic and personalised. For example, it takes some time to make them understand that with corrective nutrition, exercise and controlling stress, they can reduce their doses of medication and insulin if not reverse the condition. But once they are educated to understand what’s wrong in their thought process and implement the changes – good things happen and one of them is that their blood sugars can come under control.

Behaviour change takes time, consistent efforts and needs expert guidance to get you back on track if you fall off the wagon. Once you can train your mind to control your thoughts and emotions, you are in a better position to motivate yourself and stay on track with your medication or therapy for better outcomes.

If you need some professional guidance to achieve this, enrol with Diabefly – Fitterfly’s digital therapeutic program for diabetes. You can also visit our website at https://www.fitterfly.com/diabefly or speak to one of our counsellors on 022 48971077 (Ext 1)