Paso a Paso: Building a culturally tailored diabetes prevention intervention with, and for, the Latinx Community

One in 5 people living in Salt Lake County are Hispanic/Latino (H/L) and, based on their ethnicity, are at heightened risk for type 2 diabetes when compared to the non-Hispanic white population. While evidence-based interventions exist to reduce type 2 diabetes risk, they have not demonstrated the same level of effectiveness for H/L participants when compared to non-H/L White participants. Reduced effectiveness could be the result of a cultural mismatch of intervention content (e.g., dietary recommendations), structure (e.g., family/friend participation), learning style (e.g., didactic), or mode of delivery (e.g., digital interventions). In short, while the principles of increasing physical activity, improving healthful eating, and weight management using behavior change strategies are necessary for diabetes prevention in H/L populations, the way these principles are operationalized need to be tailored for H/L participants to reduce diabetes related health disparities. Our newly formed team proposes an interdisciplinary (i.e., social work, exercise & nutrition science, primary care, dissemination & implementation science) and community-engaged approach to develop a model for H/L diabetes prevention in Salt Lake County. We will use a comprehensive participatory planning and evaluation process with H/L community members and H/L serving community organizations to design a diabetes prevention intervention for H/L with the potential for (1) high reach into the population, (2) consistent effectiveness, (3) easy adoption and implementation across H/L communities and service providers, and (4) sustainable delivery in the community. Finally, this project uses a shared leadership approach with members from the H/L community and partners from Alliance Community Services, the Mexican Consulate in Utah, the Wellness Bus, and University Neighborhood Partners to allow for the co-production of evidence that is locally relevant and scientifically meaningful.