TY - JOUR
T1 - The family education diabetes series
T2 - Improving health in an urban-dwelling American Indian community
AU - Mendenhall, Tai Justin
AU - Seal, Kirsten Lind
AU - Greencrow, Betty Ann
AU - Littlewalker, Kathleen Nannette
AU - Brownowl, Steven Alfred
PY - 2012/11/1
Y1 - 2012/11/1
N2 - Community-based participatory research has shown great promise as a mutually engaging and respectful way to partner contemporary biomedical knowledge with the lived experience, wisdom, and customs of American Indian people. Designed and implemented through this approach, our Family Education Diabetes Series (FEDS) has evidenced pilot and longitudinal physiological data supporting its effectiveness. However, the multifaceted nature of the program makes it difficult to know which factors are responsible for its success. This difficulty hinders efforts to improve the FEDS and/or inform others' work to advance similar projects. In this study, we conducted a qualitative investigation using talking circles to explore participants' views about what elements of the FEDS are most salient. Our findings suggest that social support and group-oriented sequences hold the most value. We conclude that an emphasis on these processes (instead of program content per se) is most indicated in effecting behavior change and facilitating ongoing disease management.
AB - Community-based participatory research has shown great promise as a mutually engaging and respectful way to partner contemporary biomedical knowledge with the lived experience, wisdom, and customs of American Indian people. Designed and implemented through this approach, our Family Education Diabetes Series (FEDS) has evidenced pilot and longitudinal physiological data supporting its effectiveness. However, the multifaceted nature of the program makes it difficult to know which factors are responsible for its success. This difficulty hinders efforts to improve the FEDS and/or inform others' work to advance similar projects. In this study, we conducted a qualitative investigation using talking circles to explore participants' views about what elements of the FEDS are most salient. Our findings suggest that social support and group-oriented sequences hold the most value. We conclude that an emphasis on these processes (instead of program content per se) is most indicated in effecting behavior change and facilitating ongoing disease management.
KW - Aboriginal people, North America
KW - community-based programs
KW - diabetes
KW - health care disparities
KW - illness and disease, chronic
KW - obesity / overweight
KW - participatory action research (PAR)
KW - research, action
KW - social support
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84867032843&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84867032843&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1049732312457469
DO - 10.1177/1049732312457469
M3 - Article
C2 - 22910585
AN - SCOPUS:84867032843
SN - 1049-7323
VL - 22
SP - 1524
EP - 1534
JO - Qualitative Health Research
JF - Qualitative Health Research
IS - 11
ER -