Dataset Information

The DISC (Diabetes in Social Context) Study-evaluation of a culturally sensitive social network intervention for diabetic patients in lower socioeconomic groups: a study protocol.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Compared to those in higher socioeconomic groups, diabetic patients in lower socioeconomic groups have less favourable metabolic control and experience more diabetes-related complications. They encounter specific barriers that hinder optimal diabetes self-management, including a lack of social support and other psychosocial mechanisms in their immediate social environments. Powerful Together with Diabetes is a culturally sensitive social network intervention specifically targeted to ethnic Dutch, Moroccan, Turkish, and Surinamese diabetic patients in lower socioeconomic groups. For ten months, patients will participate in peer support groups in which they will share experiences, support each other in maintaining healthy lifestyles, and learn skills to resist social pressure. At the same time, their significant others will also receive an intervention, aimed at maximizing support for and minimizing the negative social influences on diabetes self-management. This study aims to test the effectiveness of Powerful Together with Diabetes. METHODS/DESIGN: We will use a quasi-experimental design with an intervention group (Group 1) and two comparison groups (Groups 2 and 3), N = 128 in each group. Group 1 will receive Powerful Together with Diabetes. Group 2 will receive Know your Sugar, a six-week group intervention that does not focus on the participants' social environments. Group 3 receives standard care only. Participants in Groups 1 and 2 will be interviewed and physically examined at baseline, 3, 10, and 16 months. We will compare their haemoglobin A1C levels with the haemoglobin A1C levels of Group 3. Main outcome measures are haemoglobin A1C, diabetes-related quality of life, diabetes self-management, health-related, and intermediate outcome measures. We will conduct a process evaluation and a qualitative study to gain more insights into the intervention fidelity, feasibility, and changes in the psychosocial mechanism in the participants' immediate social environments. DISCUSSION: With this study, we will assess the feasibility and effectiveness of a culturally sensitive social network intervention for lower socioeconomic groups. Furthermore, we will study how to enable these patients to optimally manage their diabetes.

SUBMITTER: Vissenberg C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3337803 | biostudies-other | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

ACCESS DATA

Publications

The DISC (Diabetes in Social Context) Study-evaluation of a culturally sensitive social network intervention for diabetic patients in lower socioeconomic groups: a study protocol.

Vissenberg Charlotte C Nierkens Vera V Uitewaal Paul J M PJ Geraci Diana D Middelkoop Barend J C BJ Nijpels Giel G Stronks Karien K

BMC public health 20120319

<h4>Background</h4>Compared to those in higher socioeconomic groups, diabetic patients in lower socioeconomic groups have less favourable metabolic control and experience more diabetes-related complications. They encounter specific barriers that hinder optimal diabetes self-management, including a lack of social support and other psychosocial mechanisms in their immediate social environments. Powerful Together with Diabetes is a culturally sensitive social network intervention specifically targe ...[more]

PMID: 22429263

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgoundImproved antimicrobial stewardship, sanitation, and hygiene are WHO-inspired priorities for restriction of the spread of antimicrobial resistance. Prioritisation among these objectives is essential, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries, but the factors contributing most to antimicrobial resistance are typically unknown and could vary substantially between and within countries. We aimed to identify the biological and socioeconomic risk factors associated with carriage of resistant Escherichia coli in three culturally diverse ethnic groups in northern Tanzania.MethodsWe developed a survey containing more than 200 items and administered it in randomly selected households in 13 Chagga, Arusha, or Maasai villages chosen on the basis of ethnic composition and distance to urban centres. Human stool samples were collected from a subset of households, as were liquid milk samples and swabs of milk containers. Samples were processed and plated onto MacConkey agar plates, then presumptive E coli isolates were identified on the basis of colony morphology. Susceptibility of isolates was then tested against a panel of nine antimicrobials (ampicillin, ceftazidime, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, kanamycin, streptomycin, sulfamethoxazole, tetracycline, and trimethoprim) via a breakpoint assay. Susceptibility findings were matched with data across a wide range of household characteristics, including education, hygiene practices, wealth, livestock husbandry, and antibiotic use.FindingsBetween March 23, 2012, and July 30, 2015, we interviewed 391 households (118 Arusha, 100 Chagga, and 173 Maasai). Human stool samples were collected at 226 (58%) households across the 13 villages. 181 milk samples and 191 milk-container swabs were collected from 117 households across seven villages. 11 470 putative E coli samples were isolated from stool samples. Antimicrobial use in people and livestock was not associated with prevalence of resistance at the household level. Instead, the factors with the greatest predictive value involved exposure to bacteria, and were intimately connected with fundamental cultural differences across study groups. These factors included how different subsistence types (pastoralists vs farmers) access water sources and consumption of unboiled milk, reflecting increased exposure to resistant bacteria in milk.InterpretationWhen cultural and ecological conditions favour bacterial transmission, there is a high likelihood that people will harbour antimicrobial-resistant bacteria irrespective of antimicrobial use practices. Public health interventions to limit antimicrobial resistance need to be tailored to local practices that affect bacterial transmission.FundingUS National Science Foundation; Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, UK Medical Research Council; and the Allen School.

Project description:ObjectivesTo investigate the association between subjective socioeconomic status (SES) and a) frequency and daily duration of social media use, and b) self-reported negative experiences on social media platforms.MethodsThe present study is based on the cross-sectional school-based "LifeOnSoMe"-study (N = 3,415) recruiting high school students aged 16 years or more in Bergen, Norway. Subjective SES was the independent variable and measured by perceived family affluence. The dependent variables included self-reported amount of social media use, and eight different types of negative experiences on social media. Self-reported age, gender, country of birth and type study were used as covariates. Statistical analyses included multinomial logistic regression and negative binomial regression models.ResultsFor amount of social media use, we only found relatively weak and inconsistent associations with SES. In contrast, the associations between SES and separate variables gauging negative experiences were robust in crude models as well as in models adjusted for age and gender. The number of different negative experiences were increased by 1.25 times for those with low and by 1.10 times for those with medium socioeconomic status, compared to those with high socioeconomic status in fully adjusted models. For composite measures of "negative acts and exclusion" and "unwanted attention from others," the difference between low and high SES was equivalent to a small-to-moderate effect size even after adjustments for age, gender, country of birth, type of study and amount of social media use.ConclusionsIn the present study, we found consistent and strong support for an association between SES and negative experiences on social media even after adjustments for age, gender, country of birth, type of study, and amount of social media use. The potential link between SES and negative experiences on social media as reported in this study is likely to have a public health impact. As the reported findings are novel, they need to be replicated in forthcoming studies based on other study populations. Future research should also focus on other aspects of SES and negative experiences, as well as endeavor to investigate potential longitudinal associations.

Project description:BackgroundObesity is a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease risk factors, including hypertension and type II diabetes. Although numerous weight loss interventions have demonstrated efficacy, there is considerably less evidence about the theoretical mechanisms through which they work. Delivering lifestyle behavior change interventions via social media provides unique opportunities for understanding mechanisms of intervention effects. Server data collected directly from web-based platforms can provide detailed, real-time behavioral information over the course of intervention programs that can be used to understand how interventions work.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to demonstrate how social network analysis can facilitate our understanding of the mechanisms underlying a social media-based weight loss intervention.MethodsWe performed secondary analysis by using data from a pilot study that delivered a dietary and physical activity intervention to a group of participants via Facebook. We mapped out participants' interaction networks over the 12-week intervention period and linked participants' network characteristics (eg, in-degree, out-degree, network constraint) to participants' changes in theoretical mediators (ie, dietary knowledge, perceived social support, self-efficacy) and weight loss by using regression analysis. We also performed mediation analyses to explore how the effects of social network measures on weight loss could be mediated by the aforementioned theoretical mediators.ResultsIn this analysis, 47 participants from 2 waves completed the study and were included. We found that increases in the number of posts, comments, and reactions significantly predicted weight loss (β=-.94, P=.04); receiving comments positively predicted changes in self-efficacy (β=7.81, P=.009), and the degree to which one's network neighbors are tightly connected with each other weakly predicted changes in perceived social support (β=7.70, P=.08). In addition, change in self-efficacy mediated the relationship between receiving comments and weight loss (β=-.89, P=.02).ConclusionsOur analyses using data from this pilot study linked participants' network characteristics with changes in several important study outcomes of interest such as self-efficacy, social support, and weight. Our results point to the potential of using social network analysis to understand the social processes and mechanisms through which web-based behavioral interventions affect participants' psychological and behavioral outcomes. Future studies are warranted to validate our results and to further explore the relationship between network dynamics and study outcomes in similar and larger trials.

Dataset Information

The DISC (Diabetes in Social Context) Study-evaluation of a culturally sensitive social network intervention for diabetic patients in lower socioeconomic groups: a study protocol.

Publications

The DISC (Diabetes in Social Context) Study-evaluation of a culturally sensitive social network intervention for diabetic patients in lower socioeconomic groups: a study protocol.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets