CULTURAL COMPETENCE IN THE CONTEXT OF TYPE 2 DIABETES

DESCRIPTION (provided by investigator): The overall aim of this project is to discover a reproducible means to translate the scientific advances of the -biomedical healthcare delivery culture to the culture of minority populations. The goal of Phase I is to develop a case-based, interactive Internet continuing education (CE) program to improve health care providers' ability to understand and communicate with patients from different cultural backgrounds. Such a program will increase providers' effectiveness in managing a wide variety of diseases as they occur in differing cultural groups. Type 2 diabetes in Mexican Americans is the model illness around which the program will be constructed and subsequently tested for effectiveness. Despite two decades of scientific advances in understanding the disease and how to treat it, the prevalence and incidence of type 2 diabetes is increasing rapidly in the US population in general, and is disproportionately affecting minority populations, particularly Mexican Americans. Mexican Americans are approximately twice as likely to suffer from the disease than non-Hispanic whites. The specific Phase I objectives are to develop three case-based modules to teach providers the general concepts of cross-cultural health care, how to apply these concepts to a specific patient population (Mexican Americans), and how to interact effectively in the cross-cultural setting in the context of chronic illness (type 2 diabetes). We will conduct a pilot test of the effectiveness of the prototype modules using a national random sample of family medicine residents. The focus of this pilot study will be 1) to assess changes in family medicine residents' knowledge, attitudes, and skills utilizing a pre- and post-test design and 2) to assess the acceptability and practicality of the prototype module with pre-and post-program satisfaction surveys.