Mitigating Cardiovascular Disease Risk Among Rural Diabetics

Mitigating Cardiovascular Disease Risk Among Rural Diabetics

The study explored the effects of the cardiovascular disease risk reduction intervention on diabetes fatalism, self-care activities, social support, knowledge, perceived self-managment among a rural population.

An experimental pretest-posttest control group design was used to assess the effects of a diabetes health promotion intervention among participants recruited from rural churches located in the southern United States. The intervention, called Project Power, is a culturally relevant, church-based diabetes education program that was developed by the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Participating churches were randomized to experimental and control groups using random numbers tables having numerical parity no greater than 2. Since an individual church is the unit of randomization, all of the participants in that church received the same treatment condition. Churches randomized to the intervention group received the health promotion program, and those designated to the control group received an educational brochure. Recruitment, data collection and intervention delivery, for the intervention group, occurred on the church grounds.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Self-identified African Americans aged 22 years or older, who have been diagnosed with Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 or 2

Exclusion Criteria:

• Other than African American, younger than 22 years of age