Examination of a chronic disease self-management curriculum and self-efficacy among Latino adults

background:

Culturally tailored and low-cost self-management programs are a cost-effective way to decrease chronic disease self-management disparities among Latinos. An application-based self-management session based on recently identified Latino-coping strategies (Rutledge et. al, 2013) was added to the Tomando Control de Su Salud (Tomand) self-management curriculum (Lorig, et. al, 2003) to evaluate self-efficacy among Spanish-speaking Latinos with chronic illnesses.

method:

Twenty Spanish-speaking Latino adults with chronic health conditions (e.g., diabetes, arthritis) were enrolled in a 7-week self-management program. Participants were randomly assigned to the intervention group (7 sessions) or the control group (6 sessions). The seventh-session curriculum involed an application-based self-management strategies via role-playing and resource-sharing to facilitate self-management application in real world settings. Self-efficacy was obtained at baseline and the 7-week mark (Time 2). Ethnographic interviews were collected at Time 2. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired t-tests.  

results:

Mean self-efficacy improved among the intervention group from baseline (M = 52.5) to Time 2 (M  = 59.5); self-efficacy remained constant among the control group for baseline (M = 52.6) and Time 2 (M = 52.2). Paired sample t-tests indicate no significant improvements within the treatment (p = .423) or control  (p = .316) groups, largely due to small sample size. Improvements in self-efficacy within the intervention group lend support to the seventh-session curriculum.

discussion:

An increase in mean self-efficacy among the intervention group was observed. This warrants further examination of the application-based self-management session curriculum among a larger sample size.  Implications of this study involve understanding and evaluating a novel approach in self-management among Latinos.