Center for Health Disparities and Molecular Medicine

Highlights of ongoing community outreach and partnerships projects

Gratitude Intervention to Promote Compliance with Healthy Behaviors among Overweight Hispanics with Type 2 Diabetes - A Clinical Randomized Control Study

Hispanics have twice the risk of developing diabetes than Whites (CDC, 2003). Healthy lifestyle among Hispanics is primarily affected by increased "allostatic load", i.e. the excessive or prolonged stressors of daily life. Gratitude Intervention (GI) is a behavioral phenomenon in which positive emotions are induced by concentrating on and appreciating the good aspects of life. A GI may provide a way to decrease stress by improving positive emotions, decreasing depression, and modulating stress responses. Thus, a gratitude intervention may facilitate effective lifestyle changes among Hispanics.

A series of Health Fairs were conducted by students of Public Health in conjunction with the Center for Health Disparities and Molecular Medicine in Hispanic community centers and Seventh-day Adventist Churches in Southern California to recruit eligible participants. To date, about 500 participants have been screened. We have also provided Healthy Living classes covering concepts of healthy eating and physical activity to about 150 overweight Hispanics concerned with diabetes.

The goal of this research is to assess the effects of daily gratitude intervention on perceived self-efficacy and compliance with healthy eating and exercising among overweight or obese Hispanics concerned with type 2 diabetes.

Summer Training Internships in Health Disparities Research (2008)

LLU SPH Assistant Professor Helps Hispanic Diabetics Improve their Health

Dr. Zaida Cordero-MacIntyre of Loma Linda University School of Public Health, along with 12 graduate students, has concluded an outreach study that helped improve the health of 13 Hispanic diabetics who live in the area around Loma Linda California. The culturally sensitive program introduced the participants to principles of diet and exercise that help control blood sugar and prevent diabetes complications such as kidney failure, blindness, and limb amputation. It was capped on Wednesday, May 27, 2008 with an informal ceremony in which the participants each received a certificate of completion and $25. One of the participants, Ms. Gouveia who has Type II diabetes, is confident she will be able to sustain her new healthy habits. "It just becomes a way of life because now you know better," she explained.

Summer Training Internships in Health Disparities Research

During the summer of 2006, 17 undergraduate and 14 high school students from the Inland Empire and around the country participated in the CHDMM Health Disparities Research Summer Program. Undergraduate students participated in the Undergraduate Training Program (UTP) and high school students from the region were part of the Apprenticeship Bridge to College (ABC) program. These students participated in ongoing research projects supervised by faculty research mentors, and were also mentored by PhD and medical research students at Loma Linda University.

These programs target students from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in biomedical research who are selected based on their strong academic records and interest in biomedical careers. Selected students worked in research projects related to health disparities at the LLU. They also participated in weekly enrichment activities designed to increase their awareness of health disparities, expose them to scientists working on molecular aspects of health disparity diseases, and enhance their analytical and communication skills.

ABC students from the Colton Joint Unified School District had the unique opportunity to share their summer research experiences with Superintendent Dennis Byas and other district officials during a luncheon organized at LLU. At the end of the summer, participating students presented their findings at the 2006 CHDMM Symposium. The results from many of these research projects have been submitted for presentation at national scientific meetings or for publication in biomedical journals.

Dr. Marino De Leon met with Dr. Dennis Byas, Superintendent of Colton Unified School District, Dr. Arturo Delgado, Superintendent of San Bernardino Unified School District, Mr. Frank Reyes, Executive Director for government relations of San Bernardino Community College District (SBCCD), and Dr. Donald F. Averill, Chancellor of SBCCD, to discuss effective ways to make research internships available to high students in the region.

Drs. Daisy De Leon and Carlos A. Casiano have been instrumental in establishing a linkage between the Inland Empire Scholarship Fund (IESF) and the CHDMM. Dr. Casiano met during the summer of 2006 with Dr. Manuela Sosa, President of the IESF, and over 30 undergraduate Latino students supported by this fund to discuss the CHDMM education and research training programs and their impact in reducing health disparities. The CHDMM continues to work with Dr. Sosa and the IESF to increase the participation of undergraduate Latino students from the Inland Empire in its education and research training programs.

Community-based Participatory Research Health Planning with the Latino population of San Bernardino County

Dr. Juan Carlos Belliard is leading a partnership with the Latino Health Collaborative (LHC) to oversee strategic planning for Latino health in San Bernardino County. The LHC is a coalition of 62 members from communities within San Bernardino County who have a deep appreciation of the health and education needs and priorities of the families and children of San Bernardino and a proven track record of service within the county. Dr. Belliard is working with the LHC to develop a county-wide empowerment assessment initiative that involves communities in identifying, prioritizing, and recommending solutions to their health-care needs. Among the initiatives of the LHC is the Health Care Access Program, which targets families of children prenatal to age five. The first element of this program consists of direct services designed to promote, support, and improve health-care access and services to the children. The second consists of building a broad-based consensus concerning the top priorities for strategic action that will most effectively address the complexity of access problems and health disparities faced by Latinos in San Bernardino.

Dr. Belliard is also collaborating with Dr. Kathryn Knecht (LLU School of Pharmacy) in the Ethno Pharmacy Project, which assesses herbal use among Latinos in San Bernardino. Research assistants are currently collecting in-depth surveys that will inform the research team about herbal use and beliefs, preferred herbs, communication with health-care providers regarding herbal use, and other traditional medications, acculturation, and other important constructs. The gathered data will be used to develop educational materials about cultural competence for health-care professionals in order to enhance patient-provider communication.

Culturally and Language Sensitive Diabetes Education Program

Diabetes is associated with severe morbidity and premature death and continues to be a major problem among Hispanics in Southern California. Many Hispanic patients with type 2 diabetes in the U.S. have poor glycemic control, which places them at high risk of diabetic complications.

A community participatory study led by Dr. Zaida Cordero-MacIntyre, Assistant Professor of Nutrition in the Loma Linda University School of Public Health and member of the CHDMM, reveals that Hispanics with type 2 diabetes often experience difficulties in understanding the instructions for their medical care or lifestyle changes unless the instructions are given in Spanish. The study involves the participation of diabetic Hispanics from San Bernardino and Riverside counties and provides culturally and language sensitive diabetes education. Participants in the study are experiencing a dramatic improvement in their health and a reduction in their diabetes medications. In this study Dr. Cordero-MacIntyre wants to evaluate if a culturally and language sensitive diabetes education program is a critical step to ensure success of further treatment or medical intervention and help in the battle against the disease.