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Georgia Latino Diabetes Education Program |
Latinos represent the nations largest minority group in the U.S. with a population of 35 million or 12.5%. In Georgia, Latinos make up about 5.3% of the population. National surveys indicate that the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in Latinos is almost twice as high as found in non-Latino whites. At the Grady Diabetes Clinic lack of follow up healthcare visits is a major obstacle in providing care to the Latino community. Among new Latino patients attending the Grady Clinic, 25% do not come back for a second appointment, and less than 25% have a follow-up clinic visit after one year. Although clinic attendance is lower than other minority groups, when Latino patients attend clinic, their metabolic control is similar with a mean hemoglobin A1C of 7.3% at one year visit. Given the results from recent CDC focus groups with Latino patients, the lack of bilingual diabetes education was identified as an important barrier.
Program Objective
The Georgia Latino Diabetes Education Program aims are:
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To provide a comprehensive and culturally appropriate diabetes education to Latino/Hispanic patients with diabetes and their family throughout the State of Georgia.
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To educate and provide Spanish diabetes education material to physicians and healthcare providers who will in turn provide a turnkey consumer education program to their Latino patients with diabetes.
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Patient Education
- The first goal of the Georgia Latino Education Program is to provide a comprehensive and culturally appropriate diabetes education to Latino/Hispanic patients in Atlanta and throughout the State of Georgia.
- The Georgia Latino Diabetes Education Program will educate and provide education materials to 400 patients with diabetes and their relatives per year.
- Education sessions in Spanish will be provided at the Grady Diabetes Clinic, Grady International Clinic, Grady Satellites Clinics, Saint Josephs Mercy Care outpatient clinics, and Gainesville.
Healthcare Professional Education
- Educational seminars will be dictated to physicians and health care professionals in Atlanta, Rome, Dalton, Macon and Gainesville.
- During these seminars, physicians and health care providers will receive diabetes education and will be provided with teaching tools to educate Latino/Hispanic patients affected by diabetes.
