489 - Adapting an In-person Adolescent Diabetes Prevention Program to a Virtual Platform
Sunday, April 24, 2022
3:30 PM – 6:00 PM US MT
Poster Number: 489 Publication Number: 489.344
Sumaiya Islam, CUNY School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States; Cordelia R. Elaiho, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States; Agueda Arniella, Institute for Family Health, Patterson, NY, United States; Sheydgi Y. Rivera, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Yonkers, NY, United States; Nita Vangeepuram, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
Clinical Research Coordinator Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai New York, New York, United States
Background: Rates of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes are alarmingly high among racial/ethnic minority youth. Several interventions, mostly targeting adults, have been implemented to prevent or delay the progression of prediabetes to diabetes, including peer education lifestyle modification programs. In general, implementation of lifestyle modification interventions presents challenges such as space restrictions, need to travel, and conflicting demands that make in-person educational programs difficult to deliver and sustain.
Objective: The current study examines the virtual adaptation of an in-person peer-led youth diabetes prevention program.
Design/Methods: We conducted a 2-hour feasibility pilot in December 2020 with 5 participants who had taken part in the in-person workshop and 5 members of our Community Action Board technology subcommittee. We implemented the full 12-session pilot program from June to September 2021 with 14 prediabetic adolescents (ages 13-17) recruited from our hospital-based general pediatric clinic. Trained peer educators led weekly sessions on a HIPAA compliant Zoom platform. Sessions focused on promoting healthy eating and physical activity using behavioral techniques (e.g., goal setting, brainstorming, and problem solving).
Results: The virtual adaptation of our program was shown to be feasible. We were able to deliver the same workshop content as the in-person workshop using a variety of Zoom features (Table 1). Participants from the feasibility pilot session reflected that most games and activities felt similar to the in-person workshop. Adolescents who attended the full 12-session pilot program reported that they gained knowledge related to healthy eating and active living, developed important skills such as goal setting and behavior tracking, and enjoyed the interactive, engaging content (rated the main workshop activities 4.5 out of 5). We employed several Zoom features (e.g., chat box, reactions, profile pictures, screen share, annotation and breakout rooms) to engage with youth in ways that were acceptable and helpful to them. Conclusion(s): Our peer-led youth diabetes prevention program was successfully adapted and implemented in a virtual format and was well accepted by at-risk youth. Future research is needed to examine the impact of virtual youth lifestyle interventions on behavioral and clinical outcomes such as weight and diabetes risk. Table 1: Planned Adaptations for the Virtual Program Delivery