Health Insurance

Researcher Works To Help Mexican Americans With Type 2 Diabetes

in Starr County, the glycosylated hemoglobin and blood sugar levels begin at such high levels that bringing them down to a level considered normal in other populations is extremely difficult. The glycosylated hemoglobin measurement essentially tracks how much glucose attaches to the hemoglobin in the red blood cells. The target level is less than 7%. In most places around the country, a number over 8% would cause concern. In the population in Starr County, the levels are regularly over 10%, and the program has had participants who came in with levels up to 18%. The Starr County diabetes intervention program has maintained an impressive 90% retention rate for the data collection sessions. Almost everyone who starts the program stays for the required length and reports for data collection sessions that are scheduled on a regular basis. In fact, the program has been strongly embraced by the people of Starr County. When the grant was refunded for a follow-up study from 1999-2004, the goal was to make beneficial adjustments to the intervention. In focus groups, the program received very few criticisms and was so resoundingly popular that participants were anxious to have their friends and family members join. Looking at the Long Term Sharon Brown and her colleagues realized that a year-long program presented difficulties for their participants. They are testing shorter versions of the program to enable easier transference into clinical sites. While the research field office in Starr County will be maintained into the future, and the intervention program will continue to hold classes in the community, the ultimate goal is to integrate the program into clinics and hospitals so that a greater number of people with diabetes can benefit from learning diabetes self-management. One step in making the program more widely accessible was to develop a series of educational videotapes. Because some of the participants didn"t read or write English or Spanish, video became an efficient alternative for disseminating information to them. However, nothing was available in Spanish at an appropriate learning level, so the UT Health Science Center at Houston funded a series of seven videotapes produced in both Spanish and English and filmed in Starr County. Designed for a general audience, the tapes give information and stimulate discussion in classes. The videos have been widely distributed around the country and have been donated to clinics all over South Texas. In fact, the Starr County diabetes research study has prompted a number of similar studies throughout the U.S., and Brown is contacted on a nearly weekly basis to consult on new projects. When the Mayo Medical School wanted advice on their diabetes education program, it turned to Sharon Brown. She was the first nurse to be invited to the medical school in Rochester, Minnesota, as a visiting professor. This honor is one of many bestowed on her. She repeatedly won the Dean"s Teaching Excellence Award at UT Houston, as well as the Faculty Research Award at The University of Texas at Austin. In 1998 she became a fellow in The American Academy of Nursing. However, none of this has shifted Brown"s focus from Starr County. One of the things she is most proud of is the way she and her program have been accepted in the community. The long-term relationships she has developed are important to her. She believes strongly that the research must always be tailored to the community itself and how it will benefit the citizens. A Legacy in Starr County The Starr County Health Studies Research Office in Rio Grande City opened in 1980 and continues to serve the community by providing diabetes-related research and screening. One of the greatest legacies of the study, Brown contends, is that "if we walked away today, all of the nurses and dieticians that have worked on the project now have considerable experience working with adults with type 2 diabetes. Many of them are Certified Diabetes Educators." Becoming a Certified Diabetes Educator, a relatively new certification, requires a college degree, two years of experience working with diabetes education, and a comprehensive examination. These professionals, who were trained through Brown"s study, are prepared to teach people with diabetes how to manage their condition over the long term. Brown is also seeking additional funding opportunities to establish a permanent diabetes education center for the Starr County community, where classes could be held. In addition, she hopes to integrate what they have learned into hospital and clinic settings and to train professionals to support diabetics in a realistic way, taking into account a patient"s culture and individual needs. Dr. Sharon Brown reflects that when she was a student in nursing school, she learned early on that diabetes was one disease you could do something about and make a significant difference in people"s lives. "What we try to get the people with diabetes to do is to practice what we all should be doing in terms of healthy lifestyles. So I find it very rewarding, particularly with those individuals in the project who have made monumental changes in their health." Those monumental changes mean longer, healthier lives for the people of Starr County in the Rio Grande Valley. Their diabetes care has been greatly improved because Dr. Sharon Brown and her University of Texas team dedicated themselves to that community and got everyone involved. University of Texas at Austin

Pages: 1 [2] 

Add your comment:

Name:
Site address:	http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits (spam protection):