Diet and exercise behaviour change remains a cornerstone of diabetes prevention; however, long-term adherence to such behaviours is low. Text messaging ('texting') is one of the widest reaching, most accessible technological interventions and may be a useful tool for improving adherence following behaviour change interventions. Although texting interventions have been shown to improve health behaviour change, current development reporting lacks quality, rigor, and often follows a "black box"

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... el where information pertaining to message content creation and subsequent evaluation goes unreported. Using behaviour change theory and involving stakeholders throughout, this dissertation describes the development of a theory-based, user-informed texting intervention to improve diet and exercise adherence following the Small Steps for Big Changes (SSBC) type 2 diabetes (T2D) prevention program. SSBC empowers individuals to make diet and exercise changes to reduce their risk of T2D; the SSBC program was systematically developed through a rigorous process from pilot testing to an RCT and community implementation. Following the completion of the three-to-four-week intensive program phase, SSBC participants are asked to continue to implement strategies they learned in the program without any continued engagement from program providers; however, previous participants have expressed a desire for more support during this follow-up phase. The texting intervention detailed in this dissertation will be used to enhance support during the SSBC follow-up phase to improve diet and exercise behaviour-change adherence. Texting intervention development is situated within the preparation phase of the Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST). The MOST is a three-phase framework (Preparation; Optimization; Evaluation) which aims to develop interventions that are not only effective, but also efficient, economical, and scalable; all attributes which are key in developing interventions to be effectively translated into practice. The texting int [...]