Georgia Latino Diabetes Education Program

Latinos represent the nation's largest minority group in the U.S. with a population of 35 million or 12.5%. In Georgia, Latinos make up about 5.3% of the population. National surveys indicate that the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in Latinos is almost twice as high as found in non-Latino whites. At the Grady Diabetes Clinic lack of follow up healthcare visits is a major obstacle in providing care to the Latino community. Among new Latino patients attending the Grady Clinic, 25% do not come back for a second appointment, and less than 25% have a follow-up clinic visit after one year. Although clinic attendance is lower than other minority groups, when Latino patients attend clinic, their metabolic control is similar with a mean hemoglobin A1C of 7.3% at one year visit. Given the results from recent CDC focus groups with Latino patients, the lack of bilingual diabetes education was identified as an important barrier.

Patient Education

• The first goal of the Georgia Latino Education Program is to provide a comprehensive and culturally appropriate diabetes education to Latino/Hispanic patients in Atlanta and throughout the State of Georgia.
• The Georgia Latino Diabetes Education Program will educate and provide education materials to 400 patients with diabetes and their relatives per year.
• Education sessions in Spanish will be provided at the Grady Diabetes Clinic, Grady International Clinic, Grady Satellites Clinics, Saint Joseph�s Mercy Care outpatient clinics, and Gainesville.

Healthcare Professional Education

• Educational seminars will be dictated to physicians and health care professionals in Atlanta, Rome, Dalton, Macon and Gainesville.
• During these seminars, physicians and health care providers will receive diabetes education and will be provided with teaching tools to educate Latino/Hispanic patients affected by diabetes.