206694 Building community capacity for diabetes self-management in the US-Mexico border region

Tuesday, November 10, 2009: 2:50 PM

Marylyn Morris McEwen, PhD, PHCNS-BC , College of Nursing, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Martha Monroy, MA , Arizona Health Sciences Center, University of Arizona National Center of Excellence in Women's Health, Tucson, AZ
Background: The impact of diabetes mellitus (DM) is devastating on the estimated 7.5 million adults who reside in the US-Mexico border region. Approximately 1.2 million adult border residents have Type 2 DM, the majority live on the U.S. side of the border, and are predominantly (70%) Hispanic. DM self-management challenges unique to Hispanics in the border region include a paucity of culturally competent DM self-management education programs, lack of DM-specific support from families and friends, higher poverty and lower literacy levels, and barriers to accessing culturally congruent care. We report on the processes and principles that underpinned a community-based participatory research (CBPR) study conducted with Mexican American adults who were concerned about the increased burden of Type 2 DM in their community in the Arizona-Mexico border region.

Methods: Multiple methods used to engage community members and researchers in a collaborative process included: key informant interviews, participation in neighborhood association meetings and a community-based coalition, and recruitment/participation of CHWs to deliver a multi-modal culturally tailored intervention for increasing DM self-management behaviors.

Results: Partnerships between researchers and community members created a health advocacy DM subcommittee, training of two community members as CHWs with expertise in diabetes, development of multiple community members and local businesses who are actively engaged in social action for decreasing DM health disparities, and building DM self-management capacity for individuals and their families related to nutrition, physical activity and diabetes stress management behaviors.

Conclusions: CBPR is a promising approach for mobilizing social action and building community capacity to address DM health disparities and challenges associated with DM self-management for Mexican American adults with type 2 DM in the US-Mexico border region.

Learning Objectives:
At the completion of the presentation the participants will be able to describe three CBPR principles that were applied to this study.

Keywords: Community Building, Diabetes

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Principal Investigator of Community-Based Participatory research studies with Mexican American adults with T2 Diabetes
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.