Diabetes Education for Low-Income Minority Populations

Latino/Hispanic and African American diabetics in Montgomery County are enjoying better health thanks to a community-based education program involving faculty of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Working in partnership with the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, community leaders in predominantly African American neighborhoods, and the Spanish Catholic Health Center, a nonprofit organization that serves the Latino population, Dr. Mira Mehta and Dianne Miiller are providing these previously underserved audiences with the information they and their families need to take control of their diet, the disease, and their lives.

The seeds for this educational effort were sown in 1998, when Miiller, an Extension educator in Montgomery County, attended a diabetes presentation at a meeting of the Society for Nutrition Education, and Mehta, an Extension specialist in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science, introduced an initiative on diabetes education to Maryland Extension educators. "Approximately 1.8 million Hispanic Americans and 2.3 million African Americans older than the age of 20 have diabetes," says Mehta. "Diabetes is to some extent a preventable disorder that can be managed with diet and physical activity, and I felt that the uiversity could play a part in reaching and teaching these medically high-risk populations."

Miiller agreed. She and her community collaborators developed a curriculum and taught their first six-hour diabetes education program for uninsured Hispanic clients in May 1999, repeating the program eight times since then. Through interactive lectures and cooking demonstrations using culturally appropriate foods, they have provided more than 100 low-literacy diabetics with practical tips and guidelines for dietary fat control and blood glucose regulation.

Blood tests conducted during the first of three classes and three months after the final class reveal a mean decline in long-term blood glucose levels of 1.27 percent. "Given that a 1 percent increase in these levels is associated with an additional $600 to $2,000 in per-person health care costs, this figure is extremely significant," says Miiller.

Buoyed by these results, she and her colleagues piloted a similar class for African American clientele in early 2001, which they hope will form the basis of an ongoing program. And, with guidance from Mehta, Extension educators in several other counties, including Allegany, Frederick, Prince George's, Somerset, Worcester, and Wicomico, are forming their own community partnerships to reach additional at-risk populations.

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For more information, contact Terri Kieckhefer

Last updated: 12/15/2009