Perspectives on a Novel Culturally Tailored Diabetes Self-Management Program for African Americans: A Qualitative Study of Healthcare Professionals and Organizational Leaders.

BACKGROUND

There is an urgent need for culturally tailored diabetes self-management education to improve health outcomes in African Americans, especially given the disproportionate prevalence of diabetes and medication non-adherence. Stakeholder engagement can guide and enrich the development of these interventions by integrating content directly addressing barriers to African Americans' adherence with existing community-based diabetes self-management education programs. The aim of this study is to explore stakeholder perspectives on a novel culturally tailored diabetes self-management program for African Americans.

METHODS

Thirteen semi-structured individual interviews were conducted in a large Midwestern U.S. city with healthcare professionals and organizational leaders serving African American communities and/or providing diabetes education. Transcripts were analyzed using directed content analysis with the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and inductive content analysis.

RESULTS

Five overarching themes were identified: (1) fulfill needs among stakeholders, (2) creating a supportive and trusting environment to address distrust, (3) building relationships and empowering peers, (4) logistical organization barriers to program implementation and (5) challenges to program acceptance by participants.

CONCLUSION

Stakeholders delineated how the new culturally tailored diabetes self-management program aligned with the needs of African American patients. Perceived challenges and corresponding strategies to address barriers to participation were identified to inform program implementation and sustainability.