Racial and ethnic minority groups suffer a disproportionately larger burden from hypertension and diabetes compared to whites. African-Americans and Hispanics are at a higher risk of having hypertension or diabetes, are less likely to be aware that they are hypertensive, are more likely to have target organ damage, and have significantly higher age-adjusted diabetes and hypertension-related mortality compared to whites. As part of our community-based participatory research program, we have developed a partnership among health services researchers from the Harvard Medical School, a community-based health advocacy organization and seven community health centers located in four Boston neighborhoods with a large representation of non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic residents (Mattapan, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, and Roxbury). As collaborators for this study investigators from the Community, Health Center, and Academic Medicine Partnership Project (CHAMPP) academic research team1 are working with: (1) the Center for Community Health Education, Research, and Service (CCHERS), and (2) a community advisory committee comprised of medical directors from neighborhood community health centers and community residents in leadership positions in community-based advocacy organizations. The goals of the proposed project are to assess the needs of non-Hispanic Blacks and Hispanics with hypertension or diabetes within the four Boston neighborhoods, and to examine the barriers and plausible approaches to improving care provided to these residents. During this two year study, we will conduct focus groups of non-Hispanic black and Hispanic patients who receive care for diabetes or hypertension in our participating community health centers. We will interview health center staff and directors about the relationship of health centers' organizational structure with disparities in cardiovascular risks among minority patients with diabetes and hypertension. After conducting these information-gathering activities, we will develop both a patient focused and a health center focused intervention to pilot test in a randomized trial within four neighborhood community health centers. Through sharing the information gained through this collaborative effort, researchers and community-based organizations will be provided with the information necessary to design practical and generalizable interventions to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in hypertension and diabetes outcomes. ? ? ?
| Ndumele, Chima D; Ableman, Genna; Russell, Beverly E et al. (2011) Publication of recruitment methods in focus group research of minority populations with chronic disease: a systematic review. J Health Care Poor Underserved 22:5-23 |
| Russell, Beverley E; Gurrola, Edith; Ndumele, Chima D et al. (2010) Perspectives of non-Hispanic Black and Latino patients in Boston's urban community health centers on their experiences with diabetes and hypertension. J Gen Intern Med 25:504-9 |
| Ndumele, Chima D; Russell, Beverley E; Ayanian, John Z et al. (2009) Strategies to improve chronic disease management in seven metro Boston community health centers. Prog Community Health Partnersh 3:203-11 |
