414 td3. Socio-cultural Factors Influencing Health Behaviors and Outcomes in Diabetes.

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414 TD3
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Socio-cultural Factors Influencing Health Behaviors and Outcomes in Diabetes
Airhihenbuwa unravels the role of socio-cultural factors in determining behavioral health patterns. According to Airhihenbuwa, there are critical enablers that hinder recommended healthy behavioral patterns. More often, conventional approaches to behavioral health patterns focus on the individual to promote change without significant consideration of socio-cultural centered approach that places greater emphasis on the totality of context that influences individual health behavioral tendencies. This paper will focus on the increased prevalence of diabetes amongst African Americans in terms of socio-cultural factors, as argued by Airhihenbuw.
The role of socio-cultural factors in influencing behavioral health patterns is well manifested as health disparities. One such critical discrepancy involves the –prevalence of diabetes, where African Americans are disproportionately affected by diabetes. Research findings showed that biological risk factors such as excess weight and increased fat deposition around the abdominal area constitute the primary reason for higher rates of diabetes for black Americans compared with white Americans (National Institutes of Health, 2018). It should be noted that diabetes appears to disproportionately affect racial, ethnic minorities in terms of burden and complications when compared to the whites. For instance, racial minorities in the U.S, such as American Indians, Alaska Natives, black Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, and Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, show a higher prevalence and increased burden of diabetes than whites (Chow et al., 2012).
The presentation of illness, in terms of patients’ beliefs and expectations regarding a disease, can result from cultural ideas and personal experiences. Aging is a common phenomenon associated with an increased prevalence and risk for diabetes s type 2. About 3.4 million older Black Americans in the U.S have a twofold risk of diabetes, 1.5 times the rate of uncontrolled diabetes, and higher rates of diabetic complications, morbidities, and fatality (Rovner, Casten & Harris, 2013). More often, socio-cultural factors have an unquantifiable impact on disease outcomes. In one, participants’ beliefs regarding diabetes were determined by varied socio-cultural factors, including race, racism, poverty, and the community (Shiyanbola, Ward & Brown, 2018). The authors observed that the perceived racial mediated impact led to increased predisposition to diabetes and its adverse outcomes due to a history of slavery, racial prejudice by healthca...