Multicultural Health Clinics

African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans and Native Americans develop diabetes at much higher rates than the general population. Learning to manage a disease like diabetes is hard enough. But if your primary language is not English or you come from a different culture, you face even greater hurdles to getting good care.

At Joslin Clinic, we want to make sure that all people with pre-diabetes or diabetes get high-quality healthcare and education. As part of two initiatives we have launched—the Latino Diabetes Initiative and the Asian American Diabetes Initiative—we offer culturally-specific diabetes clinics staffed by bilingual healthcare providers. By providing services and resources in a patient’s native language and cultural context, we aim to build trust, confidence and self-care skills. We also offer services to the African American community.

Latino Clinic: Latinos are the fastest growing and largest minority group in the United States. Their risk of developing diabetes is 1 1/2 times greater than non-Latino white Americans. They also have a greater chance of developing complications. The Latino Clinic team—endocrinologists, ophthalmologist, nurse, dietitian and an exercise physiologist—all speak Spanish. We provide one-on-one appointments, group education classes, support groups, and a diabetes and pregnancy clinic.

Asian Clinic: Though Asian Americans tend to be less obese (a risk factor for diabetes), they are almost twice as likely to develop type 2 diabetes than Caucasian Americans. The risk is much higher for Asians living in America than for those living in Asia (related to the high-fat, high-calorie Western diet). The Asian Clinic offers diabetes care through a team of three endocrinologists, a nurse practitioner, an ophthalmologist, an optometrist, a registered dietitian and a care ambassador. We provide one-on-one appointments with clinicians and a dietitian who are culturally sensitive to the Asian population.

African American Services:  On average, African Americans are twice as likely to have diabetes as white Americans of similar age. Approximately 13 percent of all African Americans have diabetes. African Americans with diabetes are more likely to develop diabetes complications and experience greater disability from the complications than white Americans with diabetes. We provide culturally-appropriate care through one-on-one appointments, group education classes and support groups.