Kinesiology and Health Education Professor Mary Steinhardt has been awarded a $3.3 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases. The grant will fund her research program Resilience-Based Diabetes Self-Management Education. The project provides resources to African Americans to manage their daily demands of type 2 diabetes.
African Americans are twice as likely to have type 2 diabetes than non-Hispanic Whites and are less likely to engage in effective diabetes self-management. There is a critical need for intensive lifestyle interventions that address the difficulties associated with diabetes faced by African Americans that may worsen diabetes-related health outcomes. Participants in the study will attend weekly educational sessions, followed by bimonthly support groups and booster sessions to learn coping skills and self-management behaviors.
The long term goal of the project is to enable African Americans to effectively manage their diabetes to avoid more serious consequences through interventions distributed in a range of community settings.
