694-P: Engaging Family and Health Care Provider Stakeholders to Refine a Type 1 Diabetes Peer Mentoring Program for Equitable CGM Use

Introduction & Objective: Racial disparities in the use of CGM are persistent and contribute to racial disparities in health outcomes among youth with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Here we describe the process and outcomes of partnering with families of youth of color with T1D and healthcare providers to refine Type 1 Together, an intervention combining peer mentoring, educational resources, community health worker access to promote equitable use of CGM.

Methods: Monthly meetings were held with 5 Black and 5 Hispanic caregiver-youth dyads and 4 diabetes care providers via a video-conferencing platform. We also sent post-meeting summaries outlining plans to address issues identified during meetings. The quality of stakeholder engagement was assessed by meeting attendance rates and stakeholder ratings on the synergy subscale of the Community Engagement Survey (range 1-6, higher scores indicate better engagement).

Results: We achieved attendance rates of 99% and 95% for family and healthcare provider stakeholders, respectively. Community Engagement Survey responses revealed high levels of engagement for family (M=5.3, SD=0.8) and healthcare provider (M=5.5, SD = 0.7) stakeholders. Family stakeholders renamed the program and outlined processes for discussing and addressing social determinants of health. Feedback from family and healthcare provider stakeholders was incorporated into the measurement strategy and peer mentor training curriculum. Healthcare provider stakeholders refined mentor recruitment strategies and clinical processes to facilitate communication between the study community health worker and other members of the diabetes care team.

Conclusion: Partnering with family and healthcare provider stakeholders helped refine Type 1 Together. Lessons learned when co-developing health equity interventions and utilizing evidence-based community engagement practices to enhance the quality of these partnerships will be discussed.