Culturally competent diabetes self-management education for Mexican Americans: the Starr County border health initiative.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the effects of a culturally competent diabetes self-management intervention in Mexican Americans with type 2 diabetes.


METHODS
A prospective, randomized, repeated measures study was conducted on the Texas-Mexico border in Starr County. A total of 256 randomly selected individuals with type 2 diabetes between 35 and 70 years of age, diagnosed with type 2 diabetes after 35 years of age, and accompanied by a family member or friend were included. The intervention consisted of 52 contact hours over 12 months and was provided by bilingual Mexican American nurses, dietitians, and community workers. The intervention involved 3 months of weekly instructional sessions on nutrition, self-monitoring of blood glucose, exercise, and other self-care topics and 6 months of biweekly support group sessions to promote behavior changes. The approach was culturally competent in terms of language, diet, social emphasis, family participation, and incorporation of cultural health beliefs. Outcomes included indicators of metabolic control (HbA(1c) and fasting blood glucose), diabetes knowledge, and diabetes-related health beliefs.


RESULTS
Experimental groups showed significantly lower levels of HbA(1c) and fasting blood glucose at 6 and 12 months and higher diabetes knowledge scores. At 6 months, the mean HbA(1c) of the experimental subjects was 1.4% below the mean of the control group; however, the mean level of the experimental subjects was still high (>10%).


CONCLUSIONS
This study confirms the effectiveness of culturally competent diabetes self-management education on improving health outcomes of Mexican Americans, particularly for those individuals with HbA(1c) levels >10%.
Brown
Sharon A
SA
School of Nursing, The University of Texas at Austin, P.O. Box 7996, Austin, TX, USA. sabrown@mail.utexas.edu
Garcia
Alexandra A
AA
Kouzekanani
Kamiar
K
Hanis
Craig L
CL
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001786:Blood Glucose; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D003469:Culture; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000208:ethnology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012648:Self Care; D013781:Texas
D001786:Blood Glucose; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin