Diabetes Self-Management Program in African Americans

As the rate of diagnosed diabetes continues to increase in minority ethnic groups, especially African Americans (AA), the need to implement a diabetes self-care program for African Americans with type 2 diabetes was the purpose of that quality improvement project. The participants were recruited from Duhaney Medical, a private practice in Boca Raton, Florida. All the participants were current patients of Dr. Duhaney, the practice owner. The project lasted eight weeks and all communications happened via phone calls and emails. The participants received via email four different narrated PowerPoint presentations about diabetes. The Diabetes Knowledge Test (DKT) and the Diabetes Self-Management Questionnaire (DSMQ) were used to explore the participants’ knowledge and their diabetes self-management as it relates to glucose management, dietary control, physical activity, and healthcare use. The project started with 15 participants, but five withdrew. The age of the remaining ten participants (N=10) ranged from 32 to 75 years old, with more females (80%) than males (20%). The p-value for the DKT was 0.1879 and was not statistically significant. On the other hand, the DSMQ was statistically significant with a p-value of 0.0061. The mode of each item from the DSMQ were analyzed and the findings revealed that the participants understood and applied the appropriate activities for their diabetes self-care. Thus, the project proves that self-management programs are advantageous to patients’ well-being. As a result, more research should be conducted to reinforce the importance of diabetes self-management among AA while preparing the healthcare providers to facilitate that teaching.