Type 2 Diabetes Remission in Australian Primary Care: Protocol for an Implementation Study of the DiRECT-Aus Trial

Background And Objectives: Type 2 diabetes is one of the most common chronic conditions managed in Australian general practice. DiRECT-Aus is replicating the UK Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial (DiRECT) in general practices across NSW. The aim of the study will be to explore the implementation of DiRECT-Aus to inform future scale-up and sustainability.

Method: This is a cross-sectional qualitative study using semi-structured interviews to explore the experiences of patients, clinicians and stakeholders in the DiRECT-Aus trial. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) will be used to guide the exploration of the implementation factors, and the RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance) framework to report on implementation outcomes. Interviews will be conducted with patients and key stakeholders. Initial coding will be based on the CFIR, with inductive coding used to develop the themes.

Discussion: This implementation study will identify factors to be considered and addressed so that future scale-up and national delivery will be equitable and sustainable.