Patient beliefs and sense of control among Spanish-speaking patients with diabetes in northeast Colorado.

PURPOSE: Latinos have higher diabetes prevalence and complication rates with lower use of self-management compared to other populations. This study evaluated perceived barriers to diabetes control among Spanish-speaking only patients in rural Colorado. METHODS: Thirty-five Spanish-speaking patients with diabetes were randomly sampled and interviewed about their attitudes and beliefs concerning diabetes, self-management activities, and the care they received. RESULTS: Patients perceived a high level of control over their diabetes. A minority of patients were adherent to recommended dietary changes or levels of exercise. Use of herbal home remedies to maintain glycemic control was common. Almost half of respondents felt that susto played a role in the development of their diabetes. Three fourths of those testing their glucose felt their physician was not interested in reviewing their blood sugar log. CONCLUSIONS: Diabetes management programs should recognize the barriers patients may have to self-management and help patients incorporate traditional beliefs into a workable treatment regimen.

El papel de los hombres en el ejercício y apropiación de los derechos sexuales y reproductivos de las mujeres

Objetivo: Identificar las necesidades de las mujeres respecto a cómo involucrar a los hombres para la transformación de la inequidad en el ejercicio de las mujeres de los derechos sexuales y reproductivos y evaluar las respuestas masculinas. Material y métodos: Este estudio es la segunda parte de uno similar realizado seis años atrás para evaluar cómo definen las mujeres sus derechos sexuales y reproductivos. El presente trabajo es una investigación cualitativa dividida en dos fases: En la primera se realizaron entrevistas colectivas con mujeres para validar los resultados de la investigación previa sobre cómo negocian las mujeres sus derechos sexuales y reproductivos, y el tipo de participación masculina que deseaban; en la segunda, se realizaron entrevistas colectivas e individuales con hombres planteando lo vertido por las mujeres. Se exploraron las percepciones sobre el ejercicio del poder y las visiones de cambio que sostenían los entrevistados. Las entrevistas se realizaron en Sonora, Ciudad de México y Puebla, fueron 11 colectivas con mujeres y un total de 30 individuales y cinco colectivas con hombres. Resultados: Las mujeres están construyendo el liderazgo de cambio social, pero sin por ello involucrarse en la organización colectiva, asumen un papel como educadoras y moderadoras del impacto del cambio en el ámbito familiar. Los hombres mantienen posiciones reactivas que preservan espacios ancestrales de poder, se mantienen abiertos a un cambio que consideran debe darse desde el ámbito institucional para continuarlo en el doméstico. Conclusiones: Cualquier estudio o intervención sobre masculinidades debe tomar como referencia las necesidades de las mujeres.

Objective: To identify women's needs regarding how to engage men in the transformation of social inequality of their sexual and reproductive rights. Material and methods: This is a qualitative and interdisciplinary study, divided in two phases: a) women were interviewed to find out what kind of involvement in their sexual and reproductive-health responsibilities they want from the men in their lives, b) men were interviewed, individually and in groups, to understand their own perceptions on the same concerns and also in response to the perceptions women articulated. The research was carried out in three locations in Mexico, in Sonora, Puebla and the Federal District. A total of 11 collective interviews with women took place, 30 individual with men and 5 collective with men. Results: Women are in increasingly constructed a social leadership that does not necessarily translate in collective organizing, and assume the role of educators and moderators as means to act as buffers of the transformation experienced at the family, parental and community levels. Men interviewed hold a reactive position to change that expressed in their resistance to become agents of change, men assume that change should occur first at institutional levels before it carries on at domestic sphere. Conclusions: New insights can be gained in the study and interventions designed in the field of male involvement by taking women's needs as a point of departure. These findings raise awareness of the need to deepen the dialogue between men and women in order to produce better understanding and successful decision-making for both parties in the arena of sexuality and reproduction.