Hispanic Families’ Action Plans for a Healthier Lifestyle for Diabetes Management

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to conduct focus groups with Hispanic patients with type 2 diabetes and their family members who participated in a culturally tailored, family-based diabetes intervention about their action plans for a healthier lifestyle. Methods Five separate focus groups were led in Spanish by an experienced bicultural/bilingual moderator. The audiotaped sessions occurred at the end of the 8-week diabetes educational program. Data were transcribed in Spanish and translated into English. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the findings. Results Eighty-four Hispanic adults participated with an equal representation of patients with diabetes and family members. Most persons were female (63.1%) and the majority of persons were born in Mexico. The mean (SD) age of participants was 44.2 (14.3) years. Six themes emerged from the data: healthier eating habits, increasing physical activity, taking care of my sugar, coping with emotions, for the family, and empowerment and increased selfefficacy. Conclusions Hispanics created action plans that promoted healthier lifestyle behaviors individually and as a family. This type 812478T DEXXX10.

Exploring Factors Associated with Physical Activity in Latino Immigrants

“…Among all the activity PA domains, vigorous PA was the preferred activity when compared to both moderate PA and walking based on participant self-report. It is not clear why the walking domain was lower than vigorous, as walking has been reported as a preferred type of activity for many Latinos (Amirehsani, Hu, Wallace, Silva, & Dick, 2019). Fear of safety and high levels of crime may discourage many Latinos from engaging in PA (Dellaserra et al, 2018; Keller et al, 2013) and many communities present structural barriers to spontaneous outdoor play (Stang & Bonilla, 2018), which may explain some of the study findings.…”

“…Fostering self-efficacy in Latinos has been a successful strategy to increase PA in Latino adolescents (Alert, Saab, Llabre, & McCalla, 2019) and in Latino families (Amirehsani et al, 2019; McEwen, Pasvogel, Murdaugh, & Hepworth, 2017). Promoting self-efficacy has been an integral part of diabetes self-management programs in Latinos (Aguayo-Mazzucato et al, 2019), supporting use of self-efficacy strategies for health promotion.…”

“…In the current study, self-efficacy to exercise was a significant predictor of PA in the regression model, after adjusting for acculturation and stress. Among Latinos with diabetes and their families, researchers found that self-efficacy fostered self-control, increased PA, and promoted lifestyle changes (Amirehsani et al, 2019). Alert et al (2019) found that a one-point increase in self-efficacy scores resulted in increases in PA frequency in Latino adolescents.…”

Experience of Culturally-Tailored Diabetes Interventions for Ethnic Minorities: A Qualitative Systematic Review

“…The first author conducted the initial analysis and synthesis, and the second author confirmed the results, which are presented in Table 2. Table 1 summarizes characteristics of the seven included studies (Amirehsani et al, 2019;Brunk et al, 2017;Islam et al, 2013;Maglalang et al, 2017;Okoro et al, 2018;Vincent, 2009;Whitney et al, 2017). All studies were published between 2009 and 2019, five since 2017.…”

“…Four studies' data were collected in participants' original language (such as Spanish or Bengali) by bilingual researcher or moderators. These data were then translated in English for analysis (Amirehsani et al, 2019;Brunk et al, 2017;Islam et al, 2013;Vincent, 2009). Other studies, whose participants were African Americans and Filipino Americans, collected data in English (Maglalang et al, 2017;Okoro et al, 2018;Whitney et al, 2017).…”