Multi-level Diabetes Prevention and Treatment Interventions for Native People in the USA and Canada: a Scoping Review

Design and rationale of the cardiometabolic health program linked with community health workers and mobile health telemonitoring to reduce health disparities (LINKED-HEARTS) program

BACKGROUND

Hypertension and diabetes are major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, stroke, and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Disparities in hypertension control persist among Black and Hispanic adults and persons living in poverty in the United States. The "LINKED-HEARTS Program" (a Cardiometabolic Health Program LINKED with Community Health WorkErs and Mobile HeAlth TelemonitoRing To reduce Health DisparitieS"), is a multi-level intervention that includes home blood pressure (BP) monitoring (HBPM), blood glucose telemonitoring, and team-based care. This study aims to examine the effect of the LINKED-HEARTS Program intervention in improving BP control compared to enhanced usual care (EUC) and to evaluate the reach, adoption, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness of the program.

METHODS

Using a hybrid type I effectiveness-implementation design, 428 adults with uncontrolled hypertension (systolic BP ≥ 140 mm Hg) and diabetes or CKD will be recruited from 18 primary care practices, including community health centers, in Maryland. Using a cluster-randomized trial design, practices are randomly assigned to the LINKED-HEARTS intervention arm or EUC arm. Participants in the LINKED-HEARTS intervention arm receive training on HBPM, BP and glucose telemonitoring, and community health worker and pharmacist telehealth visits on lifestyle modification and medication management over 12 months. The primary outcome is the proportion of participants with controlled BP (<140/90 mm Hg) at 12 months.

CONCLUSIONS

The study tests a multi-level intervention to control multiple chronic diseases. Findings from the study may be leveraged to reduce disparities in the management and control of chronic diseases and make primary care more responsive to the needs of underserved populations.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov. Identifier: NCT05321368.

Effectiveness of Multilevel and Multidomain Interventions to Improve Glycemic Control in U.S. Racial and Ethnic Minority Populations: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Racial and ethnic disparities in type 2 diabetes outcomes are a major public health concern. Interventions targeting multiple barriers may help address disparities.

PURPOSE

To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of diabetes self-management education (DSME) interventions in minority populations. We hypothesized that interventions addressing multiple levels (individual, interpersonal, community, and societal) and/or domains (biological, behavioral, physical/built environment, sociocultural environment, and health care system) would have the greatest effect on hyperglycemia.

DATA SOURCES

We performed an electronic search of research databases PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, and PsycINFO (1985-2019).

STUDY SELECTION

We included randomized controlled trials of DSME interventions among U.S. adults with type 2 diabetes from racial and ethnic minority populations.

DATA EXTRACTION

We extracted study parameters on DSME interventions and changes in percent hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c).

DATA SYNTHESIS

A total of 106 randomized controlled trials were included. Twenty-five percent (n = 27) of interventions were exclusively individual-behavioral, 51% (n = 54) were multilevel, 66% (n = 70) were multidomain, and 42% (n = 45) were both multilevel and multidomain. Individual-behavioral interventions reduced HbA1c by -0.34 percentage points (95% CI -0.46, -0.22; I2 = 33%) (-3.7 [-5.0, -2.4] mmol/mol). Multilevel interventions reduced HbA1c by -0.40 percentage points (95% CI -0.51, -0.29; I2 = 68%) (-4.4 [-5.6, -3.2] mmol/mol). Multidomain interventions reduced HbA1c by -0.39 percentage points (95% CI -0.49, -0.29; I2 = 68%) (-4.3 [-5.4, -3.2] mmol/mol). Interventions that were both multilevel and multidomain reduced HbA1c by -0.43 percentage points (95% CI -0.55, -0.31; I2 = 69%) (-4.7 [-6.0, -3.4] mmol/mol).

LIMITATIONS

The analyses were restricted to RCTs.

CONCLUSIONS

Multilevel and multidomain DSME interventions had a modest impact on HbA1c. Few DSME trials have targeted the community and society levels or physical environment domain. Future research is needed to evaluate the effects of these interventions on outcomes beyond HbA1c.

"We don't separate out these things. Everything is related": Partnerships with Indigenous Communities to Design, Implement, and Evaluate Multilevel Interventions to Reduce Health Disparities

Multilevel interventions (MLIs) are appropriate to reduce health disparities among Indigenous peoples because of their ability to address these communities' diverse histories, dynamics, cultures, politics, and environments. Intervention science has highlighted the importance of context-sensitive MLIs in Indigenous communities that can prioritize Indigenous and local knowledge systems and emphasize the collective versus the individual. This paradigm shift away from individual-level focus interventions to community-level focus interventions underscores the need for community engagement and diverse partnerships in MLI design, implementation, and evaluation. In this paper, we discuss three case studies addressing how Indigenous partners collaborated with researchers in each stage of the design, implementation, and evaluation of MLIs to reduce health disparities impacting their communities. We highlight the following: (1) collaborations with multiple, diverse tribal partners to carry out MLIs which require iterative, consistent conversations over time; (2) inclusion of qualitative and Indigenous research methods in MLIs as a way to honor Indigenous and local knowledge systems as well as a way to understand a health disparity phenomenon in a community; and (3) relationship building, maintenance, and mutual respect among MLI partners to reconcile past research abuses, prevent extractive research practices, decolonize research processes, and generate co-created knowledge between Indigenous and academic communities.

Paving a Path to Equity in Cardiorenal Care

Cardiorenal syndrome encompasses a dynamic interplay between cardiovascular and kidney disease, and its prevention requires careful examination of multiple predisposing underlying conditions. The unequal distribution of diabetes, heart failure, hypertension, and kidney disease requires special attention because of the influence of these conditions on cardiorenal disease. Despite growing evidence regarding the benefits of disease-modifying agents (e.g., sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors) for cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic (CKM) disease, significant disparities remain in access to and utilization of these essential therapeutics. Multilevel barriers impeding their use require multisector interventions that address patient, provider, and health system-tailored strategies. Burgeoning literature also describes the critical role of unequal social determinants of health, or the sociopolitical contexts in which people live and work, in cardiorenal risk factors, including heart failure, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease. This review outlines (i) inequality in the burden and treatment of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and heart failure; (ii) disparities in the use of key disease-modifying therapies for CKM diseases; and (iii) multilevel barriers and solutions to achieve greater pharmacoequity in the use of disease-modifying therapies. In addition, this review provides summative evidence regarding the role of unequal social determinants of health in cardiorenal health disparities, further outlining potential considerations for future research and intervention. As proposed in the 2023 American Heart Association presidential advisory on CKM health, a paradigm shift will be needed to achieve cardiorenal health equity. Through a deeper understanding of CKM health and a commitment to equity in the prevention, detection, and treatment of CKM disease, we can achieve this critical goal.

Relationship between food insecurity and a gestational diabetes risk reduction intervention: outcomes among American Indian and Alaska Native adolescent and young adult females

American Indian and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) are disproportionately impacted by gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), subsequent type 2 diabetes, and food insecurity. It is prudent to decrease risk of GDM prior to pregnancy to decrease the intergenerational cycle of diabetes in AI/AN communities. The purpose of this project is to describe and examine food insecurity, healthy eating self-efficacy, and healthy eating behaviors among AI/AN females (12-24 years old) as related to GDM risk reduction. Methods included: secondary analysis of healthy eating self-efficacy and behaviors, and household-level food insecurity measures from an randomized controlled trial that tested the effect of engagement in a GDM risk reduction educational intervention on knowledge, behavior, and self-efficacy for GDM risk reduction from baseline to 3-month follow-up. Participants were AI/AN daughters (12-24 years old) and their mothers (N = 149 dyads). Researchers found that more than one-third (38.1%) reported food insecurity. At baseline food insecurity was associated with higher levels of eating vegetables and fruit for the full sample (p = .045) and cohabitating dyads (p = .002). By 3 months healthy eating self-efficacy (p = .048) and limiting snacking between meals (p = .031) improved more in the control group than the intervention group only for cohabitating dyads. For the full sample, the intervention group had increases in times eating vegetables (p = .022) and fruit (p = .015), whereas the control group had declines. In the full sample, food insecurity did not moderate the group by time interaction for self-efficacy for healthy eating (p ≥ .05) but did moderate the group by time interaction for times drinking soda (p = .004) and days eating breakfast (p = .013). For cohabitating dyads, food insecurity did moderate self-efficacy for eating 3 meals a day (p = .024) and days eating breakfast (p = .012). These results suggest food insecurity is an important factor regarding the efficacy of interventions designed to reduce GDM risk and offer unique insight on "upstream causes" of GDM health disparities among AI/AN communities.

All systems are interrelated: Multilevel interventions with indigenous communities

Colonial historical trauma and ongoing structural racism have impacted Indigenous peoples for generations and explain the ongoing health disparities. However, Indigenous peoples have been engaging in multilevel, clinical trial interventions with Indigenous and allied research scientists resulting in promising success. In this paper, National Institutes of Health funded scientists in the field of Indigenous health have sought to describe the utility and need for multilevel interventions across Indigenous communities (Jernigan et al., 2020). We posit limitations to the existing socioecological, multilevel frameworks and propose a dynamic, interrelated heuristic framework, which focuses on the inter-relationships of the collective within the environment and de-centers the individual. We conclude with identified calls for action within multilevel clinical trial research.