Abstract
The overall goal of this K23 proposal is to provide Caroline Presley, MD, MPH the essential mentorship, career
development, and research experience necessary to become an independent investigator whose patient-
oriented research will contribute to improving emotional distress, self-management, and outcomes in vulnerable
people with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes distress — the emotional burden of living with and managing diabetes on
a daily basis — affects 36% of people with type 2 diabetes and is closely linked with poor adherence to diabetes
self-management behaviors, as well as suboptimal glycemic control, the presence of cardiovascular disease risk
factors, and diabetes complications. Low-income individuals are disproportionately affected by both diabetes
and diabetes distress. Currently, interventions are lacking to simultaneously help adults with type 2 diabetes to
improve their diabetes self-management and glycemic control, as well as to reduce diabetes distress. In this
four-year K23 project, Dr. Presley plans to study Mindfulness-Based Diabetes Education — an intervention
specifically adapted for adults with type 2 diabetes and elevated diabetes distress that targets stress reduction
and improvement of diabetes self-management behaviors and outcomes. In safety-net healthcare clinics, she
will conduct a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing this intervention to standard Diabetes Self-
Management Education (DSME) in low-income adults with suboptimally controlled type 2 diabetes and
moderate-severe diabetes distress to assess feasibility and acceptability. Additionally, Dr. Presley will use mixed
methods to evaluate key contextual factors related to intervention delivery and implementation obtaining input
from provider and patient stakeholders. Assessing context is critical in designing for implementation and
sustainability. These results will inform a future fully-powered efficacy study of the intervention in safety-net
healthcare systems. We hypothesize that Mindfulness-Based Diabetes Education will be acceptable and feasible
— tested through these specific aims. Aim 1: To conduct a pilot RCT of Mindfulness-Based Diabetes Education
versus standard DSME to determine feasibility and acceptability among adults with suboptimally controlled type
2 diabetes and moderate-severe diabetes distress. Aim 2: To characterize the contextual factors relevant to
delivery and implementation of Mindfulness-Based Diabetes Education using PRISM. Along with this mentored
research experience, the career development plan has been created for Dr. Presley to gain skills and experience
in 1) behavioral interventions and trials, 2) clinical application of mindfulness-based interventions, 3) mixed
methods research and implementation science through expert mentorship, advanced trainings, coursework, and
conferences, as well as opportunities for continued professional development. Upon completion of the project,
Dr. Presley will be poised to conduct a fully-powered efficacy study of the Mindfulness-Based Diabetes Education
intervention supported by an R-series grant.