By Colin Kenny, GP, Dromore
This Cochrane review included randomised controlled trials assessing the effects of culturally appropriate health education for type 2 diabetes in specified minority ethnic groups living in upper-middle-income or high-income countries. “Culturally appropriate health education” was defined as health education tailored to the cultural or religious beliefs and linguistic and literacy skills of the community being studied. The outcome measures explored were HbA1c, validated assessments of health-related quality of life, and adverse events of the intervention.
The review confirms and strengthens the evidence for consistent benefits from culturally appropriate diabetes education over conventional care, and it builds on the original findings by showing that these improvements can be sustained in the longer term. The improvement in glycaemic control shown could be clinically significant, and, with education being important in concordance with pharmacotherapy, suitable educational programmes should be an integral part of every treatment plan for people with diabetes.
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