Understanding diabetes self-management behaviors among Hispanics in New York City

Diabetes mellitus is a public health concern disproportionately affecting Hispanics. Because Hispanics are greatly affected by a high prevalence of diabetes, a qualitative study was conducted, which explored how Hispanics understand, perceive, and experience behavioral change and how they maintain such change while managing their diabetes. Twenty Caribbean (Dominican and Puerto Rican) Hispanic adults with diabetes, who were either English- or Spanish-speaking, participated in the study. Twenty individual interviews were conducted, audiotaped, and transcribed and translated. Structured questions were used in the interviews which covered the meaning of certain terms (e.g., healthy eating, exercise), motivators and barriers to changing behaviors related to diabetes management, and a question to explore ways nurses can assist them in changing behaviors. Content analysis was used to analyze the text of the interviews. Three themes (diabetes management, behavior change, and nurse's role) emerged from the data, including apparent gaps in the participants' perception of adapting their cultural foods into healthier dietary habits.