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Culturally tailored workplace diabetes program may be effective for Hispanics
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Hispanic employees reported that a diabetes educational program where they worked would be an effective venue for teaching about diabetes and healthy behaviors, according to recent study findings published in The Diabetes Educator.
Sharon A. Brown, PhD, RN, FAAN, and colleagues from The University of Texas at Austin, conducted focus group studies with 36 Hispanic adults aged 22 to 65 years, identified at a local health fair, to gain input on a workplace diabetes prevention and self-management program.
Overall, 53% of participants had type 2 diabetes whereas the rest had a family member who had been diagnosed. All but one participant reported they preferred the program be in Spanish.
Sharon A. Brown
Participants expressed interest in diabetes classes, especially sessions focusing on food preparation, nutrition, portion sizes and diabetes home remedies. Participants also reported preferring programs organized into groups for sharing experience and learning from one another.
Integrating Spanish cultural views and values, including food preferences and traditional gender roles, was also requested by participants.
Participants also reported that a program in the workplace would be the best approach due to busy schedules, family responsibilities and limited resources.
A workplace diabetes program was also supported by employers and administrators.
“A number of significant challenges were identified in the focus groups reported here,” the researchers wrote. “However, both potential participants as well as their work supervisors expressed considerable support for such a workplace diabetes program, particularly one that focused on practical guidance for preparing healthier foods. The next step is to adapt previously successful diabetes programs for the workplace, integrating information gleaned from the focus groups, and conduct pilot tests of interventions in order to establish feasibility and refine approaches. Future clinical trials will be designed to establish efficacy and cost-effectiveness.”
Disclosure: The study was supported with funds provided by The University of Texas at Austin’s St. David’s Center for Health Promotion/Disease Prevention Research School of Nursing, a special research grant from the Office of the Vice President for Research, and the first author’s professorship funds (Joseph H. Blades Centennial Memorial Professorship in Nursing).
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