Objective: To examine the feasibility and acceptability of implementing a family-based mhealth intervention tailored for low-income Chinese immigrant families with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in New York City (NYC) .
Methods: We recruited 11 patient-family partner adult dyads to receive the intervention. Both the patient and partner were asked to watch 2 brief videos each week for 12 weeks via the social media app WeChat. The culturally and linguistically tailored videos addressed diabetes self-management and provided guidance on how to support the patient’s self-management. Feasibility was evaluated via participant retention and video watch rates. Acceptability was assessed at 12-weeks via a 9-item survey using a 5-point Likert scale (1=strongly agree to 5=strongly disagree) , and a single item on which participants rated satisfaction using an 11-point Likert scale (0=not at all satisfied to 10=totally satisfied) . Participants also were asked about barriers to watching the videos.
Results: The care dyads were mostly middle-aged, married, with less than a high school education, limited English proficiency, and an annual household income <$25,000. Most family members were spouses of the patient. The retention rate was 90.9% at 12 weeks. The mean (SD) video watch rate was 76.7% (7.0%) . Lack of time was the most common barrier to watching videos. Participants reported high satisfaction (mean ± SD: 9.1 ± 1.7 for patients and 10.0 ± 0 for family members) . All strongly agreed or agreed that videos were easy to receive and open on WeChat, and provided helpful information about diet and physical activity. Most strongly agreed or agreed that they would recommend the program to others and preferred video-based diabetes education to in-person programs.
Conclusions: A family-based mHealth intervention is feasible and acceptable among low-income Chinese immigrant families with T2D in NYC.
L. Hu: None. K. Tamura: None. O. Bubu: None. M. Sevick: None. S. Cheng: None. N. Islam: None. J. Wylie-rosett: None. B. Wu: None. N. Feldman: None. A. Schoenthaler: None. O. Ogedegbe: None. N. Jiang: None.
National Institutes of Health (K99MD012811) ; National Institutes of Health (R00MD012811) ; National Institutes of Health (P30DK111022)