Implementation of integrated care for type 2 diabetes: a protocol for mixed methods research

INTRODUCTION: While integrated care for diabetes mellitus type 2 has achieved good results in terms of intermediate clinical and process outcomes, the evidence-based knowledge on its implementation is scarce, and insights generalisable to other settings therefore remain limited. OBJECTIVE: This study protocol provides a description of the design and methodology of a mixed methods study on the implementation of integrated care for type 2 diabetes. The aim of the proposed research is to investigate the mechanisms by which and the context in which integrated care for type 2 diabetes has been implemented, which outcomes have been achieved and how the context and mechanisms have affected the outcomes. METHODS: This article describes a convergent parallel mixed methods research design, including a systematic literature review on the implementation of integrated care for type 2 diabetes as well as a case study on two Dutch best practices on integrated care for type 2 diabetes. DISCUSSION: The implementation of integrated care for diabetes type 2 is an under-researched area. Insights from this study could be applied to other settings as well as other chronic conditions to strengthen the evidence on the implementation of integrated care.