187068 Promoting diabetes self-management among African Americans: An educational intervention in Prince George's County, Maryland

Tuesday, October 28, 2008: 9:30 AM

Eleanor Walker, PhD, RN , Department of Nursing, Bowie State University, Bowie, MD
The purpose of this project was to increase knowledge and self-management of diabetes among African American adults 40 years of age and older in Prince George's County diagnosed with Type II diabetes. The goals were to 1) increase knowledge about diabetes, 2) improve adherence with recommended standards for exercise, diet, and medications, and 3) improve glycemic control.

A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest comparison group design was used in this study. Four educational sessions were provided to participants in the intervention group. Content areas included information about the disease and its complications, risk factors, proper diet, recommendations for exercise, medications, monitoring blood glucose, and other care. Various teaching strategies were utilized, including discussion, games, demonstration, and videos. Patient Navigators were recruited from communities in which the participants reside and were trained to provide diabetes education and follow-up. Follow-up by phone at the scheduled intervals focused on obtaining data about diet recall, self report of exercise activities, diabetes medications taken, barriers to adhering to recommendations and offering suggestions to resolve identified problems. The control group was offered the educational session at the completion of education of the intervention group.

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Learning Objectives:
1. Discuss the effectiveness of a diabetes self-management program with African Americans in a community with high rates of diabetes complications. 2. Discuss policy implications of diabetes educational programs with African Amricans.

Keywords: Diabetes, Health Disparities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Conducted intervention research and educational outreach focused on changing health behaviors over the past 10 years. Implements community based participatory research with minority and underserved individuals.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Findings from Intervention Research to Reduce Health Disparities
See more of: Community Health Planning and Policy Development