Health Mindset as a Driver of Efficacy of a Diabetes Prevention Program in the Blackfeet Community

The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), a lifestyle intervention which aims to modify health behaviors, has reduced diabetes risk across several American Indian Communities. However, there were significant attrition rates, and non-completers were at the highest risk at baseline. One's mindset about health (i.e. whether it is fixed or malleable) may affect their likelihood of completing the intervention and its efficacy in reducing risk. With an existing CAB, I will develop a culturally congruent adaptation of the DPP, the Mindset-DPP (M-DPP). The M-DPP will include a discussion of mindset in each session and will present material focused on the plasticity of health, including evidence that one's mindset can affect outcomes that relate to risk for diabetes. The investigators will implement the DPP and the MDPP in a sample of 40 Blackfeet community members at risk for diabetes and test whether the M-DPP associates with greater shifts towards a growth health mindsets (i.e. health can be changed by effort) compared to the DPP, and whether the M-DPP associates with greater increases in physical activity levels and greater reductions in waist circumference, and greater retention compared to the standard DPP.

Inclusion criteria

• self identified as American Indian
• identified as high risk for diabetes based on the American Diabetes Association paper and pencil test
• must reside on the Blackfeet reservation

Exclusion criteria

-chronic disease diagnosis