Title: What are the barriers to and facilitators of Type 2 Diabetes self-management among Vietnamese Americans in Worcester?
Author: Le, Thuha
Date: 2014
Description: Master’s Paper, Clark University, Department of International Development, Community and Environment
This paper focuses on Vietnamese Americans, one of the more at-risk populations in Worcester, Massachusetts for being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes (TTD) to assess their understanding of the disease and of the self-management necessary to treat it. The goal is to find enough information to help health care providers and practitioners better approach the growing problem of TTD within the Vietnamese community. The author explores sociocultural factors that might hinder or facilitate diabetes self-management by conducting semi-structured interviews with individuals diagnosed with TTD and two focus group discussions with non-diabetic individuals with diabetic family members. The findings indicate that all participants were unaware of diabetes, its complications, and its symptoms prior to being diagnosed and that health care providers did not provide enough information. The author concludes that there is a need for health care providers and practitioners to provide culturally sensitive information to assist the Vietnamese community in their diabetes self-management.
Keywords: Vietnamese Americans, Type 2 Diabetes, immigrant health
Cataloged by: Selina Sikder/ B. J. Perkins