Tricia S. Tang, Ph.D. is a junior faculty research investigator with research experience in cancer prevention and control among ethnic minorities. She is applying for a K23 award to support her decision to pursue a career in diabetes translation research among ethnic minority and other high-risk populations. Dr. Robert Anderson, an internationally known diabetes researcher, will serve as her mentor. In the Years 1-2, Dr. Tang will acquire a foundation in causes and treatment of diabetes, epidemiology, research methods, and biostatistics. In Years 1-5, she will conduct her proposed research described and utilize her data to prepare a R01/R18 submission. Diabetes is a chronic disease that incurs significant health, disability, and financial costs in the United States. African Americans are disproportionately affected by diabetes as they are two times more likely to have diabetes that their White counterparts and the suffer greater diabetes-related complications.1 Diabetes self-management interventions have shown to have only short-term positive effects on knowledge, blood glucose monitoring, dietary behavior, and glycemic control.2-5 This study will examine the efficacy of a community-based, self-management intervention (Lifelong Management) for urban adults (primarily African Americans) with type 2 diabetes that sustains, over the long-term diabetes-related health gains achieved by previous short-term patient education programs.
Specific aims :
Specific Aim 1 : To examine the relative efficacy of 6-months of the Lifelong Management (LM) intervention compared to 6-months of an attention-control period in improving glycemic control and quality of life for urban African-American adults with type 2 diabetes.
Specific Aim 2 : To investigate whether gains achieved from the first 6-months of the LM intervention are sustained or enhanced over the long-term (18-months).
Specific Aim 3 : To examine whether glycemic control and quality of life decline during the year following the end of the LM intervention.
Specific Aim 4 : To examine the costs and potential health care savings of the LM intervention.
