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Public Health Promotion

Hmong language diabetes videos build awareness

To address disparities in diabetes outcomes, particularly for the Hmong community, Hennepin County recently launched a new series of videos with the goal of building awareness of diabetes in the Hmong community and helping them take charge of their health.

Hennepin County has collaborated with the Hmong community leadership team, Hmong health care providers and Hmong media creators to develop a series of videos. The series features the seven self-care behaviors from the Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists (ADCES). They provide practical skills to support diabetes management and decrease complications.

mother and daughter looking out the window

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a disease that occurs when your blood glucose (blood sugar) is too high. It is a chronic (long-lasting) health condition that can lead to major health complications such as heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, vision loss, and lower limb amputations.

Although diabetes cannot be cured, in many instances, it can be controlled, and complications can be avoided by following a healthy diet, doing physical activity, monitoring the blood sugar, keeping up with routine check-ups, and taking medicines as prescribed.

Diabetes and the Hmong community in Hennepin County

According to death certificate data between 2012-2015 in Hennepin County, diabetes accounted for 7.1% of the deaths in the Southeastern Asian population during that period. For other populations, diabetes accounted for just 2.6% of deaths in the same period. Deaths resulting from diabetes represented the largest disparity in causes of death between Southeast Asian and other populations in Hennepin County. See the data online about diabetes (Power BI). 

Based on this data, Hennepin County decided to engage with over 80 people from the Hmong community. Through focus groups and key informant interviews, staff began to learn the community perspectives about diabetes and its management.

Hennepin County and Hmong community leaders convened a leadership team to identify evidence-based programs to address the report on diabetes in Hennepin County in ways that were culturally appropriate. With input from the leadership team, Hennepin County created a series of videos to build awareness of diabetes in the Hmong community, and to help community members take charge of their health.

Educational videos created to meet needs

“Hmong individuals are three times more likely than their white counterparts to be diagnosed with diabetes,” said Mai Hang, DNP, APRN, NP-C, a local doctor of nursing practice who is serving as a consultant on the project.

“This finding underscores the urgent need for culturally informed health promotion and prevention efforts to bridge these gaps and improve health outcomes within the Hmong community. This series of diabetes videos, rooted in the Hmong way of life, introduces to the Hmong people an approach to living with a chronic condition, a cultural shift for many."

The videos are approximately 8-10 minutes long, consisting of a story addressing a diabetes self-care behavior. Each video also includes a discussion guide to support setting realistic goals. The videos were produced in Hmong with English subtitles and are created to be inclusive of Hmong cultural norms and practices.

These videos could be used by diabetes support groups, health care providers or families at home. Each video can be used alone, or as part of a series. 

  • Video 1 link (YouTube)
  • Video 2 link (YouTube)
  • Video 3 link (YouTube)
  • Video 4 link (YouTube) 

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