At the start of 2024, the 1 million Hispanic people living in Georgia will be invited to join in a new diabetes prevention program thanks to a grant from the United Health Foundation. The philanthropic arm of multinational healthcare company UnitedHealth Group awarded the $3 million grant to the nationwide Latino-focused nonprofit Hispanic Federation.

With millions in funding, the Hispanic Federation will partner with local groups for the next three years and create health and lifestyle education initiatives tailored to different communities in Georgia and Texas.

It’s a project the Hispanic Federation Health Programs Director Robert Edwards called urgent, given the high diabetes risk Hispanic people face. Data from the Centers for Disease Control shows that 17 percent of Latinos are likely to have diabetes, compared to eight percent of non-Hispanic white people. Latino adults have more than a 50 percent chance of being diagnosed.

The program aims to prevent prediabetes, the condition where blood sugars are higher than normal but not yet diabetic. By avoiding prediabetes, the organizations aim to prevent Type 2 diabetes, a condition where the body becomes unable to regulate blood sugar.

If diagnosed, people face significant medical costs and issues with quality of life. In Georgia and Texas —  the two states where the program is launching — the American Diabetes Association found diabetes-related costs total over $9 billion.

Leaders from both the United Health Foundation and Hispanic Federation said the root of diabetes risk comes from many issues, including social disparities, access to affordable and healthy food, mental health issues and cultural differences. They pointed toward food deserts and a lack of accessible groceries, which leads many to opt for fast food and cheap, unhealthy options.

The program addresses a lack of access to education about food and wellness. Mayrene Hernandez, National Senior Medical Director and Vice President of healthcare strategies at United Health Foundation, said many health decisions are associated with social disparities.

“The call to action here is to educate as early as possible to basically remove these health care disparities and barriers to access,” Hernandez said.

But combatting the root cause requires nuanced cultural sensitivity.

“People view Hispanic people as this monolith,” Edwards said. “They all think we speak Spanish, understand the exact same Spanish, and we’re all the same culture.”

In 2018, the Hispanic Federation launched its first pilot prediabetes prevention program in Spanish. Edwards said they quickly ran into cultural issues within the pilot translation.

Dr. Hernandez said linguistic sensitivity is essential to make the program impactful to several cultural groups.

“Take, for instance, the word banana. Guineo, plátano, banano — there are so many different iterations,” Hernandez said. “Linguistics is important because we are diverse, resilient in every aspect, but we do need to have that linguistic sensitivity to make that meaningful for that population.”

The Federation opted to change some language to fit different cultural groups and the ways they addressed nutrition and exercise. They also focused on working with local organizations that already have connections within the community.

Eventually, the Federation launched another pilot, this time in Central Florida.

For one year, 2,000 Hispanic people joined the program, where they learned about diabetes prevention and health and wellness. The program also offered free exercise classes, access to affordable healthcare, and financial literacy lessons, among other pieces targeted towards so-called social disparities.

Edwards said the program was a success. Over half of the participants lost 10 percent of their body weight at the end of the year. The pilot caught the eye of the United Health Foundation, who felt the project aligned with the foundation’s mission.

“Our mission is to help people live healthier lives and hopefully make the healthcare system work a little better for everyone,” Hernandez said. “When you align those missions together, that’s basically part of the reason why United Health Foundation chose the Hispanic Federation.”

Edwards said the strength of the Federation is its experience working with Latino communities across the country.

“It’s a great deal of learned experience with this one, and basically replicating what we know and finding Latinos who are willing to participate,” Edwards said.

Finding willing participants is a challenge, according to Edwards. But succeeding means meeting them where they are through things like adding an online option for accessibility or reinforcing community fitness and exercise. Dr. Hernandez said, “It’s all in the balance.”

She acknowledged the importance of food in Latino communities but said healthier nutrition doesn’t have to make things unsavory. When her mother was diagnosed with diabetes at 37, she started exclusively eating salads. Hernandez said it made her mother miserable.

“We can keep our same flavor choices, and they can be healthier, “Hernandez said.

She suggested swapping out vegetable oil for healthier alternatives like avocado oil. Through education, community creation, and awareness, Hernandez hopes to “move the pendulum to the other side.”

As the Federation prepares to kick off its Georgia program, the program leaders are focused on using local partners to reach the pulse of Latino and Hispanic communities. Edwards said word of mouth has previously been the most successful way of raising awareness.

“The idea is to get these individuals involved in the program very quickly, be very dynamic, and use our leverage in our partnerships in these specific cities to sort of hit the ground running,” Edwards said.

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