Project Description Narrative:
It is well known that diabetes is a serious health problem across the United States, with the prevalence of diabetes increasing, particularly among minority populations. Among U.S. Latinos, the prevalence of diabetes is nearly two times greater compared to non-Latino populations. Diabetes also is medically more severe among Latinos, with a higher incidence of diabetic complications reported, often due in part to late diagnosis. Yet numerous studies have shown that the uptake of preventive behaviors, from improvements in diet and exercise habits to information-seeking and appointment-seeking, requires basic access to accurate and understandable information about diabetes and its risk factors, especially for minorities who bear disproportionate burdens of the disease. Given the significantly higher rate of low health literacy among minority populations, it is clear that accurate messages about diabetes risk have yet to become equally accessible and comprehendible to all ethnic groups, including Latinos who comprise the largest and fastest growing ethnic minority group in the U.S.
Through this project, partners endeavor to bridge the serious gap between the Latino population and access to accurate and understandable information about diabetes risk and prevention by developing and evaluating the outcomes of a novel intervention to improve diabetes knowledge, knowledge retention, and screening behaviors among Latinos in Wisconsin.
Additional MCW academic partner: Ruta Brazauska, PhD, Insitute for Health and Equity