Tailored Approaches to Reduce Distress and Improve Self-Management for Veterans With Diabetes

Veterans with diabetes may become overwhelmed with the self-management behaviors needed to maintain optimal health. Veterans may experience diabetes distress (DD), a concept distinct from depression, due the amount and frequency of these behaviors. DD negatively influences the Veteran\'s engagement in self-management and subsequent HbA1c levels. Previous interventions do not tailor T2D self-management information to a Veteran\'s DD, which may be one reason interventions are ineffective at reducing DD. This proposal examines the impact of correlating factors (e.g., sociodemographic, psychosocial, and environmental) on DD using surveys and semi-structured interviews. Then, these findings will be used to design and test an intervention that provides T2D self-management information in conjunction with facilitating a connection to supportive services tailored to a Veteran\'s DD. This proposal will prepare Allison Lewinski, PhD, MPH, RN for a career as a scientist at VHA focused on developing methods to improve health outcomes among Veterans.