A Resilience Intervention in African-American Adults with Type 2 Diabetes

Objectives: To explore the feasibility and outcomes of a resilience-based diabetes self-management education (RB-DSME) program to improve psychological and physiological health in African-American adults with type 2 diabetes. Methods: An experimental group (N = 32) received RB-DSME and a comparison group (N = 33) received standard DSME. Psychological and physiological measures were taken at baseline and 6 months. ANCOVAs assessed whether the experimental group improved its overall outcome relative to the comparison group, while controlling for baseline scores. Results: The experimental group's outcomes were significantly improved vis-a-vis the comparison group for diabetes knowledge, positive meaning, HDL cholesterol, and fasting blood glucose. Conclusions: The RB-DSME shows feasibility and promise for enhancing health; a full-scale randomized trial is warranted.