Social Network Analysis to Identify Community Health Workers

The objective of this study is to recruit influential community members using Snowball Sampling Methods. Community members identified through social network analysis as influential and well-connected will be trained as community health workers (CHW) using the Diabetes Empowerment Education Program (DEEP). These CHW will be used in a future trial to educate other members of the community.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Type2 Diabetes
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Diabetes Empowerment Education Program

Detailed Description

The proposed research employs the Integrated Behavior Model (IBM) to address fundamental drivers of behavior for older rural-dwelling adults with type-two diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in the context of their social network. Social network analysis (SNA) is characterized as the examination and interpretation of relational connections. This approach can be used to map social networks and understand relationships between individuals as it pertains to social support. Snowball recruitment methods will be used to recruit participants in this study. In Aim 1, individuals who are connected to several individuals within their community and have the capacity to influence norms that hinder T2DM self-care will be identified. Ten individuals who have received medical care from the Center of Excellence in Rural Health (CERH) within the past 12 months will be identified. Initial recruitment will be conducted by a community liaison in Leslie County. This core group of 10 "seeds" will be used to conduct the first wave of interviews. Since the aim of social network analysis is to understand a community by mapping the relationships that connect them as a network, each seed will be asked to identify 3 persons believed to be influential in their community. Those who are identified in wave 1 will also be asked to identify 3 people each from their community who are also respected as leaders and can be trusted to provide health-related information to community members. This process will continue for 4 waves of recruitment (N˜200).

Participants will be asked to provide demographic information including age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, employment status, contact information (address, telephone number, email). An interview guide will be adapted from a previously published intervention assessing social networks and health behavior informed by preliminary data and the expert opinion of my team of mentors and collaborators. The interviews will begin with two broad general questions asking "who" is included in their social network and "how" members of the social network provide social support; using open-ended questions to elicit maximal information with minimal bias. Interview questions will explore the following domains: size and structure of social network; resources available through social network; beliefs of those in social network regarding general healthy behavior; knowledge of available healthy lifestyle choices; and perceived acceptable healthy behaviors (social norms). Data will be collected from CHWs pre- and post-training to assess the following: T2DM knowledge: Diabetes Knowledge Questionnaire (DKQ) a 24-item survey that has a reliability coefficient of 0.78 and showed sensitivity to a T2DM knowledge intervention. Health literacy: Newest Vital Sign (NVS) is a 6-item survey to assess health literacy comprehension and numeracy. Means and paired t-tests will be conducted to determine if health literacy and T2DM knowledge improved in each CHW during the DEEP training.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 98
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Kentucky
    • Hyden, Kentucky, United States, 41749
      • UK Center for Excellence in Rural Health, Kentucky Homeplace
    • Stinnett, Kentucky, United States, 40868
      • Stinnett Area Community Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 16 years to 97 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• residents of Leslie County, Kentucky
• speak and understand English

Exclusion Criteria:

• under 18 years of age
• unable to speak and understand English
• unable to consent

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Other: Rural-Dwelling Community Members/Residents; Rural-dwelling adults will be interviewed to map their social network structure, determine the types of social support provided by members of their social network, and identify key players within these networks. A subset of participants (~4) will be identified as Community Health Workers and will receive training with the Diabetes Empowerment Education Program (DEEP).

Other: Diabetes Empowerment Education Program; Individuals identified as Community Health Workers will participate in the Diabetes Empowerment Education Program (DEEP™). DEEP, is an education curriculum designed to help people with pre-diabetes, diabetes, relatives and caregivers gain a better understanding of diabetes self-care. Classes last a total of six weeks, providing participants with eight unique learning modules. Health literacy will be assessed before and after participating in DEEP.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Diabetes Knowledge	The change in participants' knowledge of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) will be assessed using the Diabetes Knowledge Questionnaire (DKQ) pre- and post-training with the DEEP program. The DKQ is a 24-item survey assessing diabetes knowledge. Scores range from 0-24; higher scores indicate increased knowledge of diabetes.	6 weeks
Change in Health Literacy	Change in health literacy pre- and post-education with the DEEP program will be assessed using the Newest Vital Sign (NVS) survey tool. NVS assesses health literacy based on participant interpretation of food labels. Scores range from 0-6. Lower scores indicate a high likelihood of limited literacy while higher scores indicate adequate literacy.	6 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Brittany L Smalls
• Collaborators: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Brittany Smalls, PhD, University of Kentucky

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 3, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 10, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): August 10, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 20, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 20, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): December 24, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 2, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 31, 2023
• Last Verified: October 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: community; rural; Appalachia; Diabetes Empowerment Education Program (DEEP); social network analysis; Integrated Behavioral Model (IBM)
• Other Study ID Numbers: 45657; 1K01DK116923 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No