Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Diabetes Care and Management

Abstract

Today type 2 diabetes ranks as a global pandemic, endangering the health and well-being of nearly 34 million people in the United States. In this article, I examined the most recent literature and identified 47 relevant research articles, ten of which matched the inclusion criteria. All studies concur that racial and ethnic minorities bear a disproportionate portion of the overall burden of diabetes. The causes of racial/ethnic disparities in diabetes care and management are complicated and multifaceted. However, it is assumed that the interplay of elements such as poor social determinants of health (SDOH), environmental, and hereditary factors is the cause of diabetes disparities. Having said that, the ensuing disparities have lasting negative impacts on both individuals and communities and can be mitigated by digital health interventions. Therefore, these interventions should be studied and examined further.Keywords: racial/ethnic disparities, diabetes care, diabetes care and social determinants of health, diabetes self-management.