effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy intervention on healthy lifestyle and self-care indicators in type 2 diabetic patients

Background: it is necessary to help type 2 diabetic patients solve diabetes problems by identifying factors affecting healthy lifestyle and self-care indicators that can be improved using different psychological approaches. this research aimed at determining the effectiveness of the acceptance and commitment therapy (act) intervention on healthy lifestyle and self-care indicators in type 2 diabetic patients. methods: this was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up with a control group. the statistical population of the study consisted of patients with type 2 diabetes in the age range of 30-60 years at the diabetes clinic of zahedan university of medical sciences in 2019. the sample included 40 patients with type 2 diabetes selected by a convenient sampling method and assigned to act (n = 20) and control (n = 20) groups using a simple randomization method. act training was performed in 9 sessions for 90 minutes. data were collected through the lifestyle questionnaire and self-care behavior questionnaire and analyzed by the multivariate analysis of covariance using spss 22. results: the findings indicated that act was effective in increasing healthy lifestyle (p = 0.022) and self-care indices (p < 0.001) in type 2 diabetic patients. conclusion: overall, act could affect healthy lifestyle and self-care indicators in type 2 diabetic patients. thus, it can be used for decreasing type 2 diabetic patients’ psychological problems.