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Year:: 2019
Contributor:: Dower, Justin (Author); Baruch , Jay (Author); Diaz , Joseph (Author); Brown University. Alpert Medical School. Scholarly Concentration Program. Medical Humanities and Ethics (research program)
Subject:: Spanish language; Diabetes; Hispanic Americans

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Abstract:: There is an evident divide in health literacy and successful diabetes management between English- and Spanish-speaking Americans. Studies have found limited English proficiency to be an independent predictor of poor blood sugar control among insured diabetes patients visiting English-speaking doctors. How can this issue be addressed while the number of Spanish-speaking patients continues to outstrip the number of Spanish-speaking doctors? A study of health literacy found that self-efficacy, someone’s belief in their ability to affect the course of their everyday life, may be even more important than health literacy in determining health outcomes; as such, increasing diabetes self-efficacy in Spanish-speaking patients may decrease diabetes outcome disparities between them and English-speaking patients. Seeking out patient voices could help to design diabetes management programming that boosts both health literacy and self-efficacy. This study proposes to interview Spanish speakers with diabetes so as to learn directly from them how best to structure diabetes management programming. It aims to assess patients’ experiences with diabetes and healthcare through qualitative interviews in each participant’s preferred language; draw themes from the interviews exemplifying common experiences and difficulties of living with diabetes; and report recommendations based on the interview analysis to Progreso Latino’s Wellness Center. 16 standardized, open-ended interviews with diabetes patients were conducted at Progreso Latino in Central Falls, RI in the interviewee's preferred language (majority: Spanish). Preliminary results have demonstrated that many diabetes patients have seen physicians spend insufficient time explaining the lifestyle changes necessary to properly manage the disease. Furthermore, a lack of cultural understanding on the part of the physician making dietary recommendations is noted quite frequently. Lastly, changing dietary habits, taking medication orally or by injection every day, and dealing with the symptoms and often familial nature of diabetes is really difficult; this difficulty is best articulated by those experiencing it. Complete analysis of the interview transcriptions for themes via the Immersion/Crystallization method will yield more concrete conclusions.
Notes:: Scholarly concentration: Medical Humanities and Ethics

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Dower, Justin, Baruch , Jay, and Diaz , Joseph, "Patient Voices: Doctors and Diabetes Management" (2019). Warren Alpert Medical School Academic Symposium. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:957218/

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Warren Alpert Medical School Academic Symposium

The Warren Alpert Medical School Academic Symposium is an annual event at Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University that provides Year II medical students a venue to present their summer research in a poster format. Participation in the Symposium …
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Patient Voices: Doctors and Diabetes Management