A Church-Based, Self-Management Intervention for Mexican-Americans with Diabetes

描述(申请人提供)：我的长期研究目标是成为一名全国受人尊敬的、独立的社区研究人员，重点是使用基于信仰的干预措施来减少拉美裔糖尿病患者的差异。糖尿病是一种非常普遍和病态的疾病，影响着拉美裔，特别是在美国的墨西哥裔美国人。许多基于教会的干预措施显示出改善少数族裔人口健康结果的希望；但针对拉丁裔人口的基于教会的干预措施的数据很少。考虑到教堂是拉美裔家庭和文化的中心，以教堂为基础的干预措施有望对这一人群产生巨大影响。据我们所知，没有其他研究专注于为患有糖尿病的拉美人设计基于教会的干预措施。到目前为止，我的研究已经让我在成为一名独立学术研究人员的道路上实现了许多短期目标。在职业发展奖的支持下，我将有机会在基于社区的研究方法和设计干预措施方面完善我的技能，以解决健康差距并促进拉美裔社区的变化。我在未来五年有以下短期目标，我将在这项建议中重点关注：1)获得更多的研究、培训和技能；2)评估当地医疗保健提供者在与基于教会的糖尿病、自我管理干预措施相联系方面的促进者和障碍；3)与基于信仰的机构和地方医疗机构合作，设计基于教会、适合文化的患者干预措施，以加强拉美裔糖尿病患者的自我管理；4)在拉美裔糖尿病患者中试行干预措施，目标是改善他们的糖尿病结果。考虑到拉美裔人口的增长和他们不成比例的慢性病负担，发展基于社区的规划并将这些方案与当地医疗系统联系起来，对于减少拉美裔之间的健康差距至关重要，并有望对这个社区的糖尿病结果产生很大影响。在K23奖项的支持下，我可以提高我在社区研究方面的技能，并朝着我的目标努力，成为一名独立的学术研究员，擅长应用基于社区的方法，通过基于信仰的干预来减少拉美裔糖尿病患者的差异。 公共卫生相关性：我的长期研究目标是成为一名全国受人尊敬的、独立的社区研究人员，特别关注使用基于信仰的干预措施来减少拉美裔糖尿病患者的差异。考虑到教堂是拉美裔家庭和文化的中心，以教堂为基础的干预措施有望对这一人群产生巨大影响。据我们所知，没有其他研究专注于为患有糖尿病的拉美人设计基于教会的干预措施。考虑到拉美裔人口的增长和他们对慢性病的不成比例的负担，制定方案以减少影响这一人口的健康差距至关重要。到目前为止，我的研究已经让我在成为一名独立学术研究人员的道路上实现了许多短期目标。在职业发展奖的支持下，我将有机会在基于社区的研究方法和设计干预措施方面完善我的技能，以解决健康差距并促进拉美裔社区的变化。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): My long-term research objective is to become a nationally respected, independent community-based researcher, with a specific focus on using faith-based interventions to reduce diabetes disparities among Latinos. Diabetes is a very prevalent and morbid condition affecting Latinos, especially Mexican-Americans in the United States. Many church-based interventions have shown promise improving health outcomes among minority populations; but data on church-based interventions for Latino populations is scarce. Considering that the church is a center of Latino family and culture, interventions based in churches has promise to have great impact on this population. To our knowledge, no other studies have focused on designing church-based interventions for Latinos with diabetes. My research to date has already allowed me accomplish many of my short-term objectives in my path to becoming an independent academic researcher. With the support from the career development award, I will have the opportunity to refine my skills in community-based research methods and design interventions to tackle health disparities and foster change in Latino communities. I have the following short-term goals over the next five years that I will focus on in this proposal: 1) To gain additional research training and skills; 2) To assess the facilitators and barriers of local healthcare providers in linking to church-based diabetes, self-management interventions; 3) To design a church-based, culturally-appropriate patient intervention in partnership with faith-based institutions and local healthcare institutions to increase self- management of Latino patients with diabetes; 4) To pilot the intervention among Latinos with diabetes with the goal of improving their diabetes outcomes. Considering the growth of the Hispanic population and their disproportionate burden of chronic diseases, developing community based programming and linking these programs to the local healthcare system is crucial to decrease the health disparities among Latinos and has promise to have a high impact on diabetes outcomes on this community. With support from the K23 award, I can improve my skills in community based research and work towards my goal of becoming an independent academic researcher with an expertise in applying community based methods in decreasing Latino disparities in diabetes through faith-based interventions. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: My long-term research objective is to become a nationally respected, independent community-based researcher, with a specific focus on using faith-based interventions to reduce diabetes disparities among Latinos. Considering that the church is a center of Latino family and culture, interventions based in churches have promise for great impact in this population. To our knowledge, no other studies have focused on designing church-based interventions for Latinos with diabetes. Considering the growth of the Hispanic population and their disproportionate burden of chronic diseases, developing programming to decrease the health disparities affecting this population is crucial. My research to date has already allowed me accomplish many of my short-term objectives in my path to becoming an independent academic researcher. With the support from the career development award, I will have the opportunity to refine my skills in community-based research methods and design interventions to tackle health disparities and foster change in Latino communities.