Purpose: This study aims to develop health education material to increase patients’ knowledge of T2DM with respect to healthy eating and self-care practices, and enhance positive attitude changes towards their condition. Methods: The study design included the administration of a health educational toolkit (in the form of a booklet), with the goal of raising participants’ knowledge, and consequently, attitude and self-care practices regarding T2DM. Using a purposive sampling approach, this 6-week pilot intervention recruited 25 women and 26 males (mean age = 55.98 years; SD ±11.019). Participants who attended the Diabetes Clinic at the Buea Regional Hospital, Cameroon, were interviewed to discover their knowledge and attitudes towards T2DM; the interviews were followed by anthropometric measurements and focus group discussions. Paired t-tests were used to assess patients’ changes in knowledge, attitudes and self-care practices. Findings: Results showed significant increases in participants’ knowledge of T2DM postintervention: 58.8% of subjects were able to identify at least four risk factors of T2DM, compared to only 7.8% prior to the intervention (p=.0001). Diabetes was defined as a problem of insulin deficiency by 61% of subjects as opposed to 8% prior to the study (p=.0001). Participants’ knowledge of the signs and symptoms of hyperglycaemia and hypoglycaemia increased significantly (p=0.0001). Daily portions of vegetables increased from 47.1% to 58.8%, and a substantial number of subjects (33.3%) reported at least walking 2-4 times in a week for 30 minutes, post-intervention. However, there were no changes in the subjects’ general physical activity levels. Conclusions: The results confirmed our hypothesis that increased knowledge of T2DM leads to healthier dietary choices, improved self-care practices and attitudes towards the condition. Health education toolkits are relevant to empower people with diabetes to have more active roles in modulating their health condition. |