# Assessing a Community Health Worker-Facilitated, Digitally Delivered, Family-Centered Diabetes Management Program: Single-Arm Quasi-Experimental Study

## TL;DR

A digital diabetes management program for low-income Latino adults showed improvements in health outcomes like blood sugar and stress, though engagement varied.

## Contribution

This study evaluates a digitally delivered, family-centered diabetes program tailored for low-income Latino populations through a community-academic partnership.

## Key findings

- Participants showed a marginally significant reduction in HbA1c and significant improvements in health ratings and stress levels.
- Weight, body fat, sugar intake, and sedentary time decreased significantly after the 12-week program.
- Engagement was highest in program support activities but lower in self-management and family engagement tasks.

## Abstract

The high prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and associated complications disproportionately affect low-income Latino populations, who also experience disparities in diabetes self-management (DSM), including poor medication adherence, physical activity, diet, and glycemic control.

This study examined, through an academic-community partnership, the effectiveness of ¡Salud, Salud! (an evidence-based, family-centered diabetes self-management education and support [DSMES] program) on primary (glycemic control and quality of life) and secondary (social, psychological, and behavioral factors related to T2D management) outcomes among low-income Latino adults with T2D or prediabetes.

In total, 81 adults (mean age 48.90 years, SD 12.57; n=57, 70.4%, female; n=66, 81.5%, Latino) with T2D or prediabetes were enrolled in a 12-week, single-arm quasi-experimental study conducted in two Central Texas Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) locations. ¡Salud, Salud! incorporated individual coaching by community health workers (CHWs), online family-centered DSMES training lessons, and a YMCA family membership. The delivery of ¡Salud, Salud! was supported and facilitated by digital technologies, including a dashboard to deliver intervention content and monitor participants’ engagement in intervention activities. Outcomes measured at baseline and 12 weeks (ie, postintervention) included hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c); quality of life; anthropometrics; self-reported physical activity and diet; mindfulness; perceived stress; and diabetes-related knowledge, self-efficacy, and support. Participant engagement in program activities was assessed via four index variables that underlay multiple dimensions of influences on ¡Salud, Salud! uptake: family engagement and support, participation in self-management education, program support and facilitation, and participation in self-monitoring. Paired t-tests and McNemar chi-square tests were used to examine the change in outcomes from baseline to 12 weeks. The number of program activities participants completed for each engagement index variable was converted to percentages to estimate the mean proportion of activities completed.

In total, 48 (59.3%) participants completed the 12-week posttest. At the end of the program, participants demonstrated a marginally significant reduction in HbA1c (–0.30%, P≤.09) and a significant increase in participants reporting good-to-excellent health from baseline (n=19, 39.6%) to posttest (n=28, 58.3%; P≤.003). There were significant reductions in body weight (–1.30 kg, P=.02), body fat percentage (–1.26%, P=.01), perceived stress (–0.28, P=.02), added sugar intake (–2.15 teaspoons/day, P=.001), and time spent sedentary per week (–70.27 minutes, P=.003) from baseline to posttest. Mindfulness increased significantly (2.21, P=.01). Participant engagement in ¡Salud, Salud! varied, with participants exhibiting a high completion rate in program support and facilitation activities (88%) and a moderate-to-low completion rate in self-management training (66%), self-monitoring (56%), and family engagement and support (49%) activities.

¡Salud, Salud! shows promising preliminary effects on key diabetes-related outcomes. Future research should investigate how to enhance participant engagement and optimize uptake of evidence-based T2D self-management practices among low-income Latino adults with diabetes.