Digital Health Navigation for Latino Patients With Type II Diabetes

Official title

Digital Health Navigation for Latino Patients With Type II Diabetes: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Overview

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn about digital literacy training in adult, Latino patient with type II diabetes. The main question it aims to answer is: Can providing digital literacy training during a hospital admission can help patients with their after-hospital care by using the patient portal and telehealth? Participants will receive digital literacy training by a digital navigator that focuses on the main patient portal functions. Researchers will compare patients who receive digital literacy training to those who receive standard of care (educational sheet) to see if it impacts their use of the patient portal after discharge.

Detailed description

Latinos have the second-highest age-adjusted prevalence and among the highest incidence of diabetes. Latinos also experience worse glycemic control and diabetes-related complications, including diabetic retinopathy and chronic renal disease. These findings are concerning since Latinos are the largest minority group in the U.S and will account for 25% of the population by 2045.

Digital tools, like patient portals and telemedicine, offer an opportunity to address some of the challenges that lead to these disparities, especially during care transitions. However, Latinos, especially those who are Spanish-speaking are less likely to use digital health tools. Findings from previous health information technology work have highlighted barriers, including 1) digital access and literacy, 2) interface usability, 3) privacy, and 4) patient preference. One promising intervention to address digital literacy gaps is the use digital navigators.

This study aims are to assess a digital health navigation intervention focused on increasing patient portal use after discharge among Latino patients with type II diabetes admitted to the general medicine inpatient floor.

Interventions

• Other Digital Navigation
  1:1 educational support at the bedside about the functions of the patient portal and telehealth that can help with care transitions.

Primary outcome measures

• Proportion of Participants Who Login to the Portal [Time frame: 30 days post-discharge]

Secondary outcome measures (3)

• Proportion of Participants that Perform Distinct Portal Functions [Time frame: 30 days post-discharge]
• Proportion of participants that complete a telehealth [Time frame: 30 days post-discharge]
• Proportion of participants that are re-admitted [Time frame: 30 days post-discharge]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

• Self-identified Latino adult patients with type II diabetes
• Admitted to general medicine floors at Brigham and Women's Hospital
• Preferred language: English or Spanish

Exclusion criteria

• Critical illness
• dementia, delirium, or other condition that limits ability to participate in education and consent process

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: No

Study design

Allocation

Randomized

Model

Parallel assignment

Masking

Double blind

Primary purpose

Health services research

Study locations

United States · 1 center

• Brigham and Women's Hospital — Boston

Publications

• Rodriguez JA, Charles JP, Bates DW, Lyles C, Southworth B, Samal L. Digital healthcare equity in primary care: implementing an integrated digital health navigator. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2023 Apr 19;30(5):965-970. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocad015. PMID 36795062

Identifiers

NCT: NCT06283992 · 2024p000095 · K23MD016439

Primary sources (government registries)

• ClinicalTrials.gov (US NIH)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗