Speak to Me: Effective Health Literacy Strategies in Promoting Diabetes Awareness to Cambodian Americans

Objective: Cambodian Americans are one of the most vulnerable communities given their history of contextual trauma, poor health outcomes and loss of human resources. Many Cambodian Americans who survived war, genocide and starvation, cannot read and write in their own language. Because of the low literacy skills, many Cambodian have difficulties navigating the health care system, understanding their doctor and caring and preventing diabetes. Participants will learn effective strategies in increasing health literacy for Cambodian Americans who are at risk for diabetes and diabetes complications.

Methods:  Ninety Cambodian Americans in five distinct states were approached to participate in an evaluation process to support the effectiveness of a MP3 Spoken Format CD as a diabetes education tool.  Comprehension of “NDEP’s Two Reasons I find Time to Prevent” was measured in two formats: written and spoken.

Results:  At the time of this submission, results from this evaluation have not been tabulated. The process of creating spoken format in collaboration with NDEP dissemination numbers, outcomes will be shared at the time of the meeting.

Conclusion: Community based interventions strategies, such as trainer the trainer, spoken word format tools and community health education groups improves diabetes awareness and understanding among Cambodian Americans.