The Alberta’s Caring for Diabetes (ABCD) project, funded by Alberta Health and Wellness, was developed to improve the quality and efficiency of care for diabetes in Alberta with a focus on supporting primary care outside of the metro Edmonton and Calgary areas.  The ABCD project involves two quality improvement interventions: 1) Depression screening and collaborative team care case management for diabetes patients (TeamCare-PCN Depression Intervention) and 2) Lifestyle behavioral support intervention called Healthy Eating and Active Living in Diabetes (HEALD-PCN).  Research and evaluation of these interventions will contribute to a number of other studies lead by ACHORD to determine and influence factors that lead to better quality of care and improved health outcomes for people with diabetes.

ABCD Project Design and Recruitment

A Primary Care Network (PCN) is a group of family doctors and other health professionals working together with Alberta Health Services to coordinate primary health services for patients. PCNs take a comprehensive approach to management, emphasizing health promotion, disease and injury prevention, and the care of patients with medically complex problems and chronic diseases; as such, PCNs are an ideal environment for the implementation and evaluation of the ABCD project.

The PCNs currently participating in the ABCD project are: St. Albert Sturgeon, Leduc Beaumont Devon, Camrose and Alberta Heartland.   Potential participants for the ABCD project will be recruited using a standardized mail-out survey based on information from centralized PCN-based diabetes registries. The survey includes the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8), a validated screening tool for depressive disorders.  Depending on the results of this survey, patients may be recruited into the TeamCare-PCN Depression Intervention or the HEALD-PCN Intervention. Within each intervention, eligible patients will be allocated to the intervention group (“intervention-on”) or to the control group (i.e. usual care or “intervention–off “) during alternating months.  Patients will be assigned to either group on a monthly basis, over a 6-month period (i.e., the first month patients would be assigned to intervention, the second month to control). Patients will be followed up for one year after enrolment.

Jenna Shmyr, Kinesiologist, St. Alberta and Sturgeon Primary Care Network, works with participants of the Healthy Eating and Active Living for Diabetes (HEALD) project.

For more information about the ABCD interventions and other quality of care studies, link to: