Socializing the evidence for diabetes control to develop “mindlines”: a qualitative pilot study

BACKGROUND: Evidence on specific interventions to improve diabetes control in primary care is available, but this evidence is not always well-implemented. The concept of “mindlines” has been proposed to explain how clinicians integrate evidence using specifics of their practices and patients to produce knowledge-in-practice-in-context. The goal of this pilot study was to operationalize this concept by creating a venue for clinician-staff interaction concerning evidence. The research team attempted to hold “mindlines”-producing conversations in primary care practices about evidence to improve diabetes control. METHODS: Each of four primary care practices in a single health system held practice-wide conversations about a simple diabetes intervention model over a provided lunch. The conversations were relatively informal and encouraged participation from all. The research team recorded the conversations and took field notes. The team analyzed the data using a framework adapted from the “mindlines” research and noted additional emergent themes. RESULTS: While most of the conversation concerned barriers to implementation of the simple diabetes intervention model, there were examples of practices adopting and adapting the evidence to suit their own needs and context. Performance metrics regarding diabetes control for the four practices improved after the intervention. CONCLUSION: It appears that the type of conversations that “mindlines” research describes can be generated with facilitation around evidence, but further research is required to better understand the limitations and impact of this intervention.