PROJECT SUMMARY – RPL LANE Worldwide, the prevalence of diabetes is increasing, largely due to increasing occurrence of overweight and obesity. Approximately 10.5% of the US population has diabetes, and this rate is higher among women and some racial/ethnic minorities, including Hispanics (17%). Hispanic women experience higher proportional risks of mortality and complications from diabetes compared to Hispanic men. Hispanic diabetes disparities are mainly attributed to limited access to healthy foods and poor access to healthcare; however, factors increasing diabetes risk in Hispanic women are complex and not fully understood. Type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed through lifestyle changes that include weight loss and greater physical activity. Our long-term goal is to improve women’s health through developing effective health promotion and disease treatments related to nutri- tion and lifestyle. The primary goal of the research proposed here is to understand the complex intersec- tions of nutrition, gender roles, ethnicity, and mental health as they relate to the development of diabe- tes and treatment-seeking behaviors among Hispanic women living in Idaho. Idaho women are at ele- vated risk for many poor health outcomes because large portions of the state are rural and are categorized as ‘remote and frontier.’ These regions are sparsely populated and have limited access to basic goods and ser- vices – including grocery stores and health care. We will use a novel, intersectional, mixed-methods experi- mental design that acknowledges systematic discrimination due to interwoven identity-based characteristics, such as gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, immigration status, socio-economic status, and disability, which create overlapping barriers to opportunity, resulting in poor nutrition and inadequate healthcare access. This intersectional mixed-methods study includes 1) an online survey to identify associations between type 2 diabe- tes control and dietary intake, food security, physical activity, selfcare, caregiving, medication use, and expo- sure to stress and discrimination among Hispanic Idahoans; 2) qualitative interviews documenting women’s self-expressed life stories that may capture experiences contributing to development of type 2 diabetes; and 3) statistical testing of the final intersectional model that integrates associations between type 2 diabetes in His- panic women and their nutritional, physical, mental, and socio-emotional health. This research is significant and novel because it will use, for the first time, an intersectional mixed-methods approach to understand nutri- tional, physical, mental, caregiving, and socio-emotional factors contributing to the development of diabetes among Hispanic women living in Idaho. The results from this study will identify areas for interventions to im- prove diabetes control and prevention programs. Also, the innovative intersectional mixed-model method may be applied to further unde...