# Development of a Culturally Adapted Digital Health Application for Older Hispanics with Type 2 Diabetes

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA · 2024 · $188,104

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Poor health literacy, medication non-adherence, and lack of interventions easily delivered by healthcare
providers negatively impact health outcomes in Hispanic patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Hispanics use
smartphones, download apps, and search online for health-related information more often than other groups in
the U.S.; however, health information found online and in existing digital apps can be misleading, difficult to
interpret, and is seldom individually tailored. A digital health app with individually tailored educational content
which is useable, engaging, and culturally adapted would likely improve comprehensive medication
management (CMM) delivery to older Hispanics with T2D by improving their understanding of the disease and
medications, and ultimately improve their health outcomes. The proposed project’s goal is therefore to
create a digital health app that will empower older Hispanics with T2D to manage their disease.
 Through previous funding, we developed a computer-delivered, individually-tailored, and culturally adapted
prototype health intervention consisting of three modules which target health literacy and aim to improve
adherence in older Hispanics with T2D. During preliminary testing, patients agreed that the modules were easy
to use, culturally appropriate, and relevant to their needs, while pharmacists agreed that the intervention could
streamline patient counseling and offered a tailored approach to provide CMM. In this proposal, we will
transform the prototype content into a modernized digital health app aimed at maximizing CMM in this patient
population by improving health literacy and medication adherence. Based on the preliminary testing, we
hypothesize that this digital health app will be useable and accepted by both the patients and their
pharmacists, and will improve medication adherence, hemoglobin A1c, and fasting glucose levels.
 Our proposal consists of two Specific Aims: 1) to refine and modernize previously developed health
intervention content and develop a digital health app for older Hispanic patients with T2D and their pharmacists
that is usable and accepted; and 2) to assess health outcomes by pilot testing the app in 40 Hispanic adults 50
years or older with T2D. The long-term goal is to create a digital health app to educate patients by
providing critical, individually tailored information in a secure format that is easy to use, cost-effective
and which will enable pharmacists to provide patient-tailored CMM. Following completion of the proposed
project, the refined digital health app will be ready for wider dissemination and testing in a larger-scale study.
Our team will also be prepared to conduct a large scale, robust, and pragmatic trial of the integration of the
digital health app into pharmacist patient care services to improve T2D medication use and health outcomes.
The results of this project will not only lead to a sustained, powerful influence on managing T2D, but will a...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10871342
- **Project number:** 1R21DK139557-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Joshua Caballero
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $188,104
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-20 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10871342

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10871342, Development of a Culturally Adapted Digital Health Application for Older Hispanics with Type 2 Diabetes (1R21DK139557-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10871342. Licensed CC0.

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