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. 2022 Aug 5;19(15):9655.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19159655.

Use of Focus Groups to Inform a New Community-Based Youth Diabetes Prevention Program

Ngina McAlpin  1 , Cordelia R Elaiho  2 , Farrah Khan  3 , Cristina Cruceta  4 , Crispin Goytia  4   5   6 , Nita Vangeepuram  2   5   6
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Use of Focus Groups to Inform a New Community-Based Youth Diabetes Prevention Program

Ngina McAlpin et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

There have been few youth-led diabetes prevention programs. Our objective was to conduct focus groups to explore peer influences on adolescent lifestyle behaviors and strategies for implementing a youth peer education model for diabetes prevention. We conducted six focus groups with 52 youth (ages 13-22; 62% male, 38% female; 64% Hispanic, 36% non-Hispanic Black) from East Harlem, NYC. We used a Thematic Analysis approach to identify major themes, compared findings, and resolved differences through discussion and consensus. Three dominant themes arose: (1) Adolescents generally encounter more unhealthy peer influences on diet and more healthy peer influences on physical activity; (2) Adolescents endorse youth-led diabetes prevention strategies and describe ideal qualities for peer leaders and methods to support and evaluate leaders; (3) Adolescents prefer text messaging to monitor behaviors, track goals, and receive personalized guidance. Using study findings, our Community Action Board developed a peer-led diabetes prevention program for prediabetic adolescents.

Keywords: community-based; diabetes prevention; focus groups; mobile health technology; peer education; youth.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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