A Culturally Appropriate Self-Management Program for Hispanic Adults with Type 2 Diabetes and Low Health Literacy Skills

The global diabetes epidemic has disproportionately affected the Hispanic population. Along with the prediction that within the next few decades a great proportion of population growth in the United States will be among the Hispanic population, the accompanying increase in type 2 diabetes (T2D) will greatly impact the U.S. health care system. To reduce the morbidity and mortality from diabetes in this population, culturally appropriate approaches to disease self-management are needed. This project assessed the feasibility of adapting a patient-centered educational intervention that addresses diet, physical activity, and meaningful self-monitoring of blood glucose for a Hispanic population with low health literacy skills. In four 2-hour class and focus group sessions, the educational program was presented in Spanish to nine Hispanic adults with T2D recruited within a rural community health care setting in central Virginia. The participants’ feedback during the group sessions clustered around four themes: information and knowledge, motivation and barriers to change, experiences with new behaviors, and personal responsibility. The feedback supported the feasibility of the instructional approach within a group of low health literacy Hispanic adults with T2D. Findings from the project may help in the further development of tools and strategies for improved T2D self-management in the Hispanic American population.