Health Literacy Profile and educational intervention as a prevention action for Type2 Diabetes

Abstract Diabetes Type 2 is being categorized as a health crisis in Mauritius where 22.8% of the population suffers from it coupled with a 19.5% who are pre-diabetic. Government is already spending a huge proportion of the national budget in care of diabetic patients. Since one of the known means to better control diabetes is structured diabetes education, we tested the “learning nests” as a prevention measure for Type2 Diabetes. The “learning nests” is a structured health education programme which takes into account both biomedical and psychosocial dimensions which has already proved its effectiveness in other countries and it is theoretically based on socio-constructivism, social contextualization, empowerment and action planning. Health literacy refers to the capacity to access, understand and use health related information to make appropriate health decisions. A concept which is highly correlated to the health outcomes of a population since it addresses necessary competencies to maintain oneself in good health. The objectives of the educational sessions were to educate people on the risk factors of diabetes and at the same time these people can disseminate the knowledge acquired in their social environment. Six educational sessions were organized for 30 participants whereby the main eligibility criteria was age > =18 years. A qualitative study was conducted with the participants to analyse the learning process as well as their health literacy competencies in terms of access, comprehension and evaluation of health information. The study was conducted before and after three structured educational sessions based on cardiovascular risks, Physical Activities and managing fat intake. The findings show that these learning situations when contextualized can prove to be promising, in terms of health actions being undertaken by participants and improvement in health literacy competences in a middle-income country like Mauritius. Key messages Improvement of Health Literacy level can decrease the prevalence of Diabetes. Structured Health Education can help in improving health literacy.