Culturally Tailored Health Education Improves Clinical Outcomes Among Minorities With Type 2 Diabetes, Study Finds

[Harold Schiffman]

Culturally Tailored Health Education Improves Clinical Outcomes Among
Minorities With Type 2 Diabetes, Study Finds

23 Jul 2008

Culturally tailored health education appears to help improve some
clinical outcomes in the short-term for minorities with type 2
diabetes, according to a study published in the Cochrane Database of
Systematic Reviews, Reuters Health reports. The study noted that
language and cultural barriers can serve as obstacles to quality
diabetes health education for minorities. For the study, author
Yolanda Robles of United Kingdom-based Cardiff University analyzed
results from 11 published studies that compared the efficacy of
culturally tailored diabetes education with standard diabetes care.
The studies included 1,603 minority participants from middle- or
high-income nations.

Researchers found "clinically significant improvements" in blood sugar
control among participants who received diabetes education in their
native language that used culture-specific information. Participants
receiving culturally tailored care also showed improved knowledge of
diabetes and healthy lifestyles, according to Reuters Health. The
improvements were noted three to six months after the participants
received the care.

The findings support the idea "that health education should be couched
in a learner-centered manner" and should consider religious aspects,
as well as social and cultural values, researchers said. Robles said
that more research is needed to study the long-term effects of
culturally tailored diabetes education (Hendry, Reuters Health, 7/21).
 An abstract of the study is available online.

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You
can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the
archives, or sign up for email delivery at
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser
Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free
service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/115903.php

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