Developing an educational resource about preventing foot problems for people with diabetes: Part 2 - Creating and testing the resource and assessing its initial impact

One of the major complications of diabetes is the development of nerve damage and poor circulation, both of which can lead to foot problems such as ulceration and serious long-term infection. These complications have heavy personal, social, and economic costs associated with them. However, it is possible to either delay or prevent the development of foot ulcers by managing diabetes successfully and following a regular footcare routine. For this preventative strategy to be successful it needs to be implemented at diagnosis, while the individual is at low risk of developing foot problems. To manage their footcare and therefore reduce the risk of diabetic complications, people need access to reliable, high-quality information. Researchers acknowledge that an individual's understanding of footcare, and their behaviour, can be positively influenced by information, though there has been little research to date examining this strategy in people who are at low risk of foot problems. This is the second of two articles describing the development of a resource aimed at people with diabetes, to help them prevent foot problems. The first article detailed the research and audit process and a series of focus groups with people with diabetes. This second article describes how the information resource was planned, written, and evaluated. It includes work to gain a consensus from health professionals about good footcare and preventative behaviour and user insight on the content, tone, style, and design and layout of the resource. The article concludes with some early evaluation of the project.