Learning Objective #1: Determine the knowledge of African American participants about the disease process of diabetes mellitus

Learning Objective #2: Identify the knowledge of African Americans with diabetes mellitus about self-management of the disease

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Purpose: To provide diabetes education for African Americans, age 45 years and older, with diabetes or who were at high risk of developing diabetes that will ultimately empower them to accept responsibility for their health. Design: A one-group pretest-posttest design. Method: The Diabetes Education and Self Management Workshop was implemented as a community based education program for adults in an urban, predominately African American community in the Southeastern US. A pretest concerning the participant's knowledge of diet, exercise, disease process, and treatment was administered to 265 participants. A panel of healthcare experts then provided participants with information about disease process and risk factors for diabetes in an eight-hour session. They also discussed self-management and complications, dispelled common myths, addressed the financial impact of diabetes, and the importance of medication, diet, and exercise. A posttest was administered after the session to determine if learning had occurred. Findings: Pretest and posttest scores were not statistically significant except for one item. The statistically significant improvement was on the item related to getting a yearly flu shot (pretest=88.3%, posttest=97.6%). Approximately one month after the workshop participants were called to complete a telephone post workshop survey. Participants reported practicing what they were taught about exercising and eating healthy. Several reported an increase in exercise, visiting their healthcare providers, and making better food choices and eating healthier. Conclusions: Health disparities among African Americans continue to widen. Local, state, and federal funds need to be allocated for health education programs such as this one. Community based diabetic education and self-management programs can work to decrease the devastating effects and the eminent complications caused by diabetes mellitus. This research was funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services through the National Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the Research Network for Health Services and Health Disparities.