Family Intervention for Chinese Americans With Type 2 Diabetes

Chinese Americans are one of the fastest growing immigrant groups in the US, who suffer disproportionately high type 2 diabetes (T2D) burden and have poorly controlled T2D. Given the high economic and societal burden of T2D and rapid population growth in Chinese Americans, there is an urgent need for research to develop effective interventions to address T2D burden in this population. Recent evidence suggests the importance of involving and empowering family members in diabetes intervention and calls for family intervention. A mobile health approach such as short message service (SMS) might be a promising way to deliver such family-oriented interventions to the target population given prior studies suggests that Chinese Americans often report challenges to attend in-person lifestyle counseling because of long working hours and lack of sick time from work. A SMS-based intervention provides the flexibility of allowing them to view the intervention at a time and place convenient to them. This study will serve as the first step to explore an alternative approach for managing T2D in this group.