Pilot of a diabetes primary prevention program in a hard-to-reach, low-income, immigrant Hispanic population.
An immigrant Hispanic population in the Texas-Mexico border region urgently requested assistance with diabetes. The project team implemented an exploratory pilot intervention to prevent type 2 diabetes in the general population through enhanced nutrition and physical activity. Social networks in low-income rural areas(colonias) participated in an adaptation of the Diabetes Empowerment Education Program. The program had a pre-post-test design with a comparison group. The intervention had a small but significant effect in lowering body mass index, the biological outcome variable. The process evaluation shows that the participants valued the pilot project and found it culturally and economically appropriate. This program was the first primary prevention program in diabetes to address a general population successfully. The study shows that low-income, rural Mexican American families will take ownership of a program that is participatory and tailored to their culture and economic situation.
School of Rural Public Health-McAllen Campus, Texas A&M Health Science Center, McAllen, TX, USA. avmillard@tamhsc.edu
Ann V
AV
Millard
Margaret A
MA
Graham
Xiaohui
X
Wang
Nelda
N
Mier
Esmeralda R
ER
Sánchez
Isidore
I
Flores
Marta
M
Elizondo-Fournier
D000328:Adult; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico / Q000208:ethnology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011203:Poverty / Q000208:ethnology*; D011322:Primary Prevention; D055815:Young Adult