Class
Article
College
Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services
Department
English Department
Faculty Mentor
Debasree DasGupta
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
Purpose: Health disparities, or preventable and unjust differences in health, often exist in populations that experience barriers to health as a result of race or ethnicity. In the Hispanic population, health disparities exist in diabetes prevention and management with Hispanics being 70 percent more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes and twice as likely to be hospitalized for end-stage diabetic kidney disease compared to non-Hispanic whites. Delivering culturally competent care that respects how cultural factors impact health can help reduce health disparities. This project evaluates the cultural competency of Utah Department of Health diabetes programs for the Hispanic population and recommends strategies to address identified gaps in cultural competency. Methods: To assess the cultural competency of Utah Department of Health diabetes programs for the Hispanic population, we conducted a critical examination of Utah Department of Health diabetes websites and educational materials and interviewed Utah Department of Health diabetes staff in October 2021. We then applied a cultural competency framework to guide our evaluation. This framework incorporated five evidence-based strategies that promote culturally component care, including linguistic, sociocultural, constituent-involving, evidential, and peripheral strategies. Linguistic and sociocultural strategies highlight the inclusion of cultural norms and practices in program delivery. Constituent-involving and peripheral strategies, in contrast, incorporate lived experiences and visual appeals into program implementation, while evidential strategies focus on sharing culture-specific data. Results: We identified cultural competency gaps for the Hispanic population in linguistic, sociocultural, constituent-involving, peripheral, and evidential strategies in Utah Department of Health diabetes programs’ websites, handouts, and host organization locations. Linguistic gaps exist with not all resources being provided in Spanish; for example, diabetes webpages published by the Utah Department of Health are not available in Spanish. Sociocultural gaps exist with promotional materials not discussing diabetes within the context of Hispanic cultural values; for example, the content in English and Spanish versions of the Diabetes Self-Management Education brochure is identical, and cultural resources for diabetes educators are not provided on Utah Department of Health websites. Constituent-involving gaps exist with limited community center host organizations; for example, only 6/43 Diabetes Self-Management Education host organizations are community health centers. Evidential gaps exist with handouts and webpages not using diabetes statistics specific to the Hispanic population; for example, the Living Well Diabetes Prevention Program workshop search tool is available in Spanish but includes diabetes statistics about the general population instead of the Hispanic population. Finally, peripheral gaps exist with images of people in educational materials lacking Hispanic representation; for example, the Evidence-Based Lifestyle Change fact sheet includes an image of a group of people that lacks Hispanic representation. Discussion: The gaps we highlighted reveal weaknesses the Utah Department of Health can address to improve the cultural competency of diabetes programs for the Hispanic population. Recommendations to address these weaknesses include developing a multilingual website, incorporating cultural values and beliefs into promotional materials, providing cultural resources and training for diabetes educators, expanding community partnerships, increasing community health worker engagement, publishing diabetes statistics specific to the Hispanic population, and increasing Hispanic representation in visual imagery. Implementing these strategies will help Utah Department of Health diabetes programs address diabetes health disparities in the Hispanic population more effectively.
Location
Logan, UT
Start Date
4-7-2022 12:00 AM
Included in
Cultural Competency of Utah Department of Health Diabetes Programs
Logan, UT
Purpose: Health disparities, or preventable and unjust differences in health, often exist in populations that experience barriers to health as a result of race or ethnicity. In the Hispanic population, health disparities exist in diabetes prevention and management with Hispanics being 70 percent more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes and twice as likely to be hospitalized for end-stage diabetic kidney disease compared to non-Hispanic whites. Delivering culturally competent care that respects how cultural factors impact health can help reduce health disparities. This project evaluates the cultural competency of Utah Department of Health diabetes programs for the Hispanic population and recommends strategies to address identified gaps in cultural competency. Methods: To assess the cultural competency of Utah Department of Health diabetes programs for the Hispanic population, we conducted a critical examination of Utah Department of Health diabetes websites and educational materials and interviewed Utah Department of Health diabetes staff in October 2021. We then applied a cultural competency framework to guide our evaluation. This framework incorporated five evidence-based strategies that promote culturally component care, including linguistic, sociocultural, constituent-involving, evidential, and peripheral strategies. Linguistic and sociocultural strategies highlight the inclusion of cultural norms and practices in program delivery. Constituent-involving and peripheral strategies, in contrast, incorporate lived experiences and visual appeals into program implementation, while evidential strategies focus on sharing culture-specific data. Results: We identified cultural competency gaps for the Hispanic population in linguistic, sociocultural, constituent-involving, peripheral, and evidential strategies in Utah Department of Health diabetes programs’ websites, handouts, and host organization locations. Linguistic gaps exist with not all resources being provided in Spanish; for example, diabetes webpages published by the Utah Department of Health are not available in Spanish. Sociocultural gaps exist with promotional materials not discussing diabetes within the context of Hispanic cultural values; for example, the content in English and Spanish versions of the Diabetes Self-Management Education brochure is identical, and cultural resources for diabetes educators are not provided on Utah Department of Health websites. Constituent-involving gaps exist with limited community center host organizations; for example, only 6/43 Diabetes Self-Management Education host organizations are community health centers. Evidential gaps exist with handouts and webpages not using diabetes statistics specific to the Hispanic population; for example, the Living Well Diabetes Prevention Program workshop search tool is available in Spanish but includes diabetes statistics about the general population instead of the Hispanic population. Finally, peripheral gaps exist with images of people in educational materials lacking Hispanic representation; for example, the Evidence-Based Lifestyle Change fact sheet includes an image of a group of people that lacks Hispanic representation. Discussion: The gaps we highlighted reveal weaknesses the Utah Department of Health can address to improve the cultural competency of diabetes programs for the Hispanic population. Recommendations to address these weaknesses include developing a multilingual website, incorporating cultural values and beliefs into promotional materials, providing cultural resources and training for diabetes educators, expanding community partnerships, increasing community health worker engagement, publishing diabetes statistics specific to the Hispanic population, and increasing Hispanic representation in visual imagery. Implementing these strategies will help Utah Department of Health diabetes programs address diabetes health disparities in the Hispanic population more effectively.