Telehealth Diabetes Prevention Intervention for African American Youth

The Telehealth Diabetes Prevention Intervention for the Next Generation of African American Youth (TELE-GEN) pilot study will evaluate the implementation and early efficacy of a telehealth diabetes prevention intervention for African American (AA) children (8- to 11-years) and their parents. Power to Prevent is a lifestyle diabetes prevention intervention from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that is based on the Diabetes Prevention Program and tailored for AA families. To investigators knowledge, this intervention has not been evaluated in a clinical trial with AA families with children at risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), nor been delivered via telehealth. Employing an effectiveness-implementation hybrid study design, investigators aim to concurrently (1) conduct a single arm pilot trial to assess the early efficacy of Power to Prevent delivered via telehealth to treat overweight/obesity in AA children and their parent, while (2) evaluating an implementation strategy for the uptake of the intervention by the pediatric weight management clinic at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. The primary outcome will be stabilization or reduction in BMI z-score in children (index participant) and reduction in parent BMI (co-participant). Parents (n=20) will receive the same telehealth diabetes prevention intervention, which will be delivered by a racially concordant, trained Lifestyle Coach using small-group videoconferencing (5 parents per group). Sessions will consist of nutrition and physical activity behavior change strategies (20 min), problem solving and decision-making skills to circumvent barriers to behavioral change (20 min), and family goal setting and action planning (20 min). Child and parent measures will be assessed at baseline, 12-weeks (post-intervention), and 30-weeks (follow-up). The implementation strategy has two targets: (1) the pediatric weight management clinical and clinical care team; and (2) overweight/obese pediatric patients and their overweight/obese parents. The multifaceted implementation plan includes four discrete strategies: (1) creating a new clinical team; (2) changing the service site; (3) intervening with families; and (4) assessing organizational readiness. Preliminary findings will provide data to design a full-scale study that will include a powered pilot randomized controlled trial to test the interventions effectiveness for preventing T2DM, while evaluating a refined implementation protocol.