By Alejandra Gepp
As the fifth leading cause of death among Hispanics in the U.S. from 1998 to 2002, diabetes is a major concern among this population. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 2.5 million Hispanic adults age 20 or older (about 10.4%) have been diagnosed with diabetes. The burden caused by this diagnosis can be greater among Hispanics due to numerous factors, including poor self-management of the disease. These difficulties are likely the result of barriers to high-quality care such as limited English proficiency, citizenship status, low education, fear or mistrust of the health care system, lack of health insurance, and the cost of health care services. Yet studies have found that diabetes self-management and care management programs are showing success in improving clinical status and the quality of life among Latinos.
Social and peer support are important strategies in self-management education. For more than ten years, NCLR’s Institute for Hispanic Health (IHH) has been incorporating the promotores de salud (lay health workers) model as a strategy for providing culturally competent and linguistically appropriate peer support to Latinos facing health-related issues, including diabetes awareness and self-management. Peer support has been identified by many researchers and clinicians as an essential component of any self-management program that promotes behavioral change. For example, Peers for Progress, an international organization that promotes peer support around the globe and an NCLR partner, conducted a systematic review of peer support interventions published from 2000 to 2009. They found significant effects of peer support in 83% of all publications identified and significant results in 81% of publications reporting clinical trials.
Most recently, IHH has partnered with sanofi-aventis and HUMANA to pilot a 12-month project, Viviendo Saludable, with two NCLR Affiliates, Center for Hispanic Policy and Advocacy and Mexican American Unity Council. Viviendo Saludable uses promotores as a mechanism to assist Latinos who are 55 and older with managing their diabetes. The curriculum includes a tool kit with culturally and linguistically appropriate education materials for promotores de salud to use when conducting community health interventions. Stay tuned for the preliminary results of our new pilot project!