Use of Spanish Audio Podcast to Educate Visually Challenged Hispanics with Diabetes

Diabetes is the leading cause of death among the Hispanic population, requiring solutions at the individual, community, and population levels. Self-management helps to manage diabetes and prevent complications, but it is a challenge in nursing practice. Health care providers use printed information to teach patients about self-management of diabetes. However, patients with visual impairment are not able to use these resources. Limited English proficiency, low health literacy, and visual challenges result in the underutilization of health care services within Hispanic communities. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop a Spanish audio podcast and lesson plan as teaching tools and to educate staff at an ophthalmological clinic on the proper use of the tools to teach monolingual Hispanic patients with type 2 diabetes and blindness. The Lynn model was used by 8 content and language experts to evaluate the podcast and lesson plan for literacy appropriateness to a fifth-grade level, quality, motivational language, and cultural appropriateness. The Spanish audio podcast and lesson plan was determined by the experts to be useful teaching tools. Guided by Knowle’s adult learning theory, staff were trained to use the podcast and lesson plan for use in educating patients. Formative and summative evaluations were used to assess the effectiveness of the staff education project. Responses to the staff education post-intervention questionnaire endorsed the potential effectiveness of these teaching tools for monolingual Hispanic patients with type 2 diabetes and blindness. These culturally- and linguistically-appropriate educational tools may enhance diabetes-related support and improvement in diabetes self-management within the Hispanic population