(Lumetra: San Francisco) -- Investing in culturally-appropriate, community-based interventions substantially improved rates of A1C testing among Latinos with diabetes, according to a new study published in the February American Journal of Public Health. Proper diabetes care management is essential in preventing life-threatening and debilitating complications such as heart disease, hypertension and stroke, blindness, kidney disease, and lower extremity amputations.

Researchers at Lumetra, a California-based quality improvement organization and health-care consultancy, designed the multifaceted, three-year study to improve diabetes care among Latino Medicare beneficiaries and to reduce disparities in annual A1C testing to monitor blood glucose between whites and Latinos.

“Viva La Vida is a fantastic model program for any community that longs to take control of its health, productivity and longevity,” says Rebecca Olson, Ph.D., a co-author of the study. “This study is a step-by-step blueprint of how to mobilize a community and affect positive change by engaging community partners, developing language-appropriate materials that people will respond to, and creating a proactive dialogue about healthcare prevention.”

The study, “Viva La Vida: Helping Latino Medicare Beneficiaries with Diabetes Live Their Lives to the Fullest,” targeted four California counties—Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Diego—home to more than half of all Latino Medicare beneficiaries in the state.

Essential components to Viva La Vida’s success in reaching Latinos and reducing disparities in the diabetes testing were low-literacy health education materials and tools, community and provider partnerships, and mass media. Upon completion, annual A1C testing rates among Latinos rose from 70.6 percent to 77.5 percent, and decreased the disparity in A1C testing between whites and Latinos from 7.1 percent to 3.0 percent, during the intervention period.

“We know that Latinos are twice as likely as whites to develop diabetes and they have higher death rates from the disease,” says Fabio Sabogal, Ph.D., a co-author of the study. “Viva La Vida gets to the heart of the disparities problem by addressing the very barriers Latinos face when confronted with a medical issue, including language comprehension, cultural differences and community social norms. Viva La Vida empowered communities to take immediate charge of preventive care.”

For a bilingual patient education booklet designed to help Medicare beneficiaries in the Latino community, their caregivers, and families is available visit www.lumetra.com/resource-center/index.aspx?id=538.

For further information visit www.lumetra.com/about-lumetra/index.aspx?id=3326