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. 2024 Nov 11;24(1):3106.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-20595-6.

Participant and group facilitator perspectives on a novel culturally tailored diabetes self-management program for African Americans

Adati Tarfa  1 , Ejura Yetunde Salihu  2 , Phanary Xiong  3 , Cierra Brewer  4 , Martha Maurer  3 , Yao Liu  5 , Olayinka Shiyanbola  6
Affiliations

Participant and group facilitator perspectives on a novel culturally tailored diabetes self-management program for African Americans

Adati Tarfa et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: African Americans with type 2 diabetes experience disparities in their care and diabetes health-related outcomes. Diabetes self-management programs such as Healthy Living with Diabetes (HLWD) are important but do not account for the unique cultural experiences of African Americans. Also, a culturally tailored program focused on addressing sociocultural beliefs and providing race-congruent peer support, Peers LEAD (Peers Supporting Health Literacy, Self-Efficacy, Self-Advocacy, and Adherence) was implemented in two midwestern cities to improve medication adherence but does not include diabetes self-management topics included in HLWD. In an attempt to fill the gaps from both HLWD and Peers LEAD, Peers EXCEL (Peers' Experience in Communicating and Engaging in Healthy Living) was designed to integrate both programs.

Methods: Our study explored the perceptions of African American participants and facilitators of the separate HLWD and Peers LEAD programs, on the proposed new Peers EXCEL program using focus groups and interviews. Findings were analyzed by research assistants trained in qualitative research using deductive and inductive open coding approaches.

Results: Participants appreciated the cultural fit of Peers EXCEL for African American communities which is a feature that was lacking in HLWD. They shared the need to include topics such as the relationships between systemic racism and diabetes.

Conclusion: Participants' feedback of Peers EXCEL reveals the importance of including various community members' perspectives in the design of new diabetes self-management programs tailored for African Americans.

Keywords: African Americans; Community engagement; Diabetes self-management; Peer support.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations Ethics approval and consent to participate All research activities were reviewed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Institutional Review Boards staff, which deemed the study exempt due to being interview and focus group research. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The procedure to obtain verbal informed consent was approved by The University of Wisconsin-Madison Institutional Review Board (2020 − 1061, 8/20/20). Consent for publication not applicable. Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Description of diabetes self-management programs shared with study participants
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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