A comparative effectiveness study of two culturally competent models of diabetes self-management programming for Latinos from low-income households

Abstract Background Diabetes risk is extremely high for Latinos from low-income households. Health guidelines recommend that individuals learn strategies to self-manage their diabetes, but getting people to adopt required lifestyle changes is challenging and many people are not able to prevent their pre-diabetes from escalating or effectively control their diabetes. Systematic reviews show that culturally competent self-management programs can significantly improve diabetes outcomes and different models for culturally competent programming have been developed. Methods This patient-engaged study will compare the effectiveness of two distinct evidence-based models for culturally competent diabetes health promotion at two sites that serve a large Latino patient population from low-income households: 1) The Diabetes Self-Management Support Empowerment Model, an educational session approach, and 2) The Chronic Care Model, a holistic community-based program. Data collection will involve interviews, focus groups, surveys and assessments of each program; and testing of patient participants for A1c, depression, Body Mass Index (BMI), and chronic stress with hair cortisol levels. We will recruit a total of 240 patient-social support pairs: Patients will be adults (men and women over the age of 18) who: 1.) Enter one of the two diabetes programs during the study; 2.) Self-identify as “Latino;” 3.) Are able to identify a social support person or key member of their social network who also agrees to participate with them; 4.) Are not pregnant (participants who become pregnant during the study will be excluded); and 5.) Have household income 250% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) or below. Social supports will be adults who are identified by the patient participants. PRIMARY OUTCOME: Improved capacity for diabetes self-management measured through improvements in diabetes knowledge and diabetes-related patient activation. SECONDARY OUTCOME: Successful diabetes self-management as measured by improvements in A1c, depression scale scores, BMI, and circulating levels of cortisol to determine chronic stress. Discussion Our hypothesis is that the program model that interfaces most synergistically with patients’ culture and everyday life circumstances will have the best diabetes health outcomes. Trial registration This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov on December 16, 2016 (Registration # NCT03004664 )