Promotores-Focused Screening and Education to Improve Diabetes Awareness and Self-Care in Low-Income Latino Intergenerational Families

Abstract

Project ALTO-D (Alert Latinos To Overcome Diabetes), a 3-year capacity building and demonstration project, targeted low-income Latino American and Latino immigrant adults and intergenerational families at high-risk for or living with type 2 diabetes. The project took place in a 9-square-mile medium-high density urban area with a population of about 300,000 in the northeast San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. Project ALTO-D screened anyone 18 and older voluntarily presenting at screening venues (churches, parent centers at area elementary schools, and parks). Promotores de Salud (“health promoters”) provided post-screening assistance and invited those screened to participate in the primary intervention: Project ALTO-D screened 2,240 participants for diabetes and Promotores provided accompanied referral and case management assistance to 537 (70%) of 765 participants found by the screening to have non-fasting blood glucose levels of 120 and above. A total of 737 persons participated in the Project-developed and -sponsored 16-hour Estilo de Vida Saludable con Diabetes (EVS) (“Healthier Lifestyles with Diabetes”) course. Of those 265 persons completing 12 hours