Diabetes is a long term non-communicable disease with high costs to patients, health services & society, & for which there is currently no standardised approach to self-management. DWELL is a holistic programme that encourages & motivates people with Type 2 Diabetes to manage their condition better. The DWELL partners have worked together to design & develop the DWELL 12 week patient support programme, staff training programme & support tools.

The DWELL 12 week patient support programme consists of 4 core modules: Education, Nutrition, Physical activity & Wellbeing, & at the heart of all of these is peer support, motivational interviewing & self management. These key elements all help to put the patient back in the driving seat of their condition, motivationing them to make long-term lifestyle changes to manage their diabetes successfully & reducing their risk of developing long-term complications. To date 396 people have been recruited to the DWELL 12 week programme.

The staff training programme consists of 5 modules: The DWELL approach, Understanding diabetes - common language, Facilitation skills, Motivational interviewing & Evaluation tools. As DWELL is a holistic programme, it does require a change in thinking of the way to treat type 2 diabetes...a change from a medical approach to a holistic approach. 133 staff have received training so far along with 263 students receiving the DWELL approach training as part of their curriculum.

There are also support tools:
- the directory of services & online support which contains over 300 entries of local services, groups & activities which contribute to a healthier way of living, as well as information on helpful apps, healthy recipes & diabetes education
- the Ambassadors! A key element to the DWELL programme. They helped develop & pilot the 12 week programme, promote DWELL within the community, support the programme & participants, & help to sustain DWELL beyond the end of the project.

Three cross-border Ambassdor network meetings have taken place, all of which have been a great success. The November 2019 meeting saw Ambassadors from each of the 4 participating countries come together & exchange sessions they deliver as part of the DWELL programme. These sessions included Thai-Chi, crafting & cookery.

In October 2019, preliminary data analysis enabled interim evaluation results to be presented for the first time at the Diabetes Professional Care Conference at Olympia, in London.