UCI Health, UC Irvine reinventing model for diabetes research, treatment in Latino/a population

Program is designed with community’s input to remove barriers and improve outcomes

Orange, Calif. — At UCI Health and UC Irvine, diabetes research and treatment in the Latino/a community is being reimagined through a model that addresses one of healthcare's most persistent challenges: the gap between innovation and trust in the community.

Diabetes strikes earlier and its complications hit harder in the Latino/a community. Traditional approaches of addressing the crisis often fall short, marked by fragmented care, limited access and solutions designed without the input of those who would be most affected by them.

In partnership with UCI Health, UC Irvine is revising those approaches with comprehensive initiatives that integrate prevention, research and culturally aware treatment. By involving the community as key partners, clinical outcomes are improved, and the underlying barriers of equity, access and trust are addressed.

Legacy of exclusion, underrepresentation

One of the most significant barriers to equity in healthcare innovation is the historical gap in trust between healthcare institutions and the communities they serve. Without this foundation, even the most promising innovations can fail to reach those who could benefit the most.

Populations like the Latino/a community carry a legacy of exclusion, underrepresentation and mistreatment in healthcare research and clinical practice.

Even when new programs are designed with good intentions, these communities sometimes question whether their voices were included in shaping the initiatives. Trust cannot be assumed simply because an innovation is medically advanced or institutionally supported. It grows when the community sees transparency, accountability, and genuine partnership and decision-making.

Reflecting lived realities

Another barrier arises when health innovations are developed within academic or clinical environments without meaningful input from patients and community stakeholders, unintentionally excluding or disadvantaging them.

While such are often created by experts who understandably focus on scientific rigor, regulatory requirements and operational efficiency, they may not reflect the patients’ lived realities. Those can include transportation barriers, caregiving responsibilities, language differences, digital access limitations, and cultural considerations.

Patients sometimes perceive these initiatives as distant, bureaucratic, or disconnected from everyday needs.

Role of social determinants of health

Health outcomes are influenced by far more than clinical care alone.

In the Latino/a community, social determinants such as housing, food insecurity, transportation, education and economic opportunity can also play a profound role.

Organizations addressing these issues often operate in silos, with different incentives, funding structures, and data systems, making it difficult to create coordinated solutions. When partnerships across sectors are not intentionally structured or supported, patients experience the disconnect first-hand.

Digital tools can widen disparities

While digital tools such as telehealth, patient portals, remote monitoring and artificial intelligence hold tremendous promise, they can also potentially widen disparities.

Many Latino/a patients face barriers such as unreliable internet access, lack of digital devices, language limitations or difficulty navigating complex technology platforms.

When innovation assumes universal digital readiness, it risks leaving behind the patients who may already face the greatest health challenges.

“We are at a moment where innovation in diabetes research and treatment are advancing very quickly, whether through new models of care, digital health or data-driven medicine,” says John Billimek, PhD, associate professor and vice chair for academic affairs at the UC Irvine School of Medicine Department of Family Medicine and the co-director of the Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community (PRIME-LC).

“The success of these innovations depends on how well we partner with the communities we serve. When collaboration is built on trust, transparency, and shared responsibility, we can create solutions that patients can access, understand and receive the benefits.”

Prioritizing trust building

The health system’s approach to diabetes research and treatment in the Latino/a community begins with acknowledging long-standing trust gaps between the U.S. healthcare system and underserved populations. Unequal access, cultural disconnects, and underrepresentation have historically contributed to limited engagement with the system and poor health outcomes.

UCI Health is prioritizing trust building through partnerships with Latino/a community leaders and initiatives such as the UCI-OC Alliance. These partnerships are reframing care as a collaborative effort and strengthening credibility within the Latino/a community.

Co-created, culturally informed programs have been implemented to align care delivery with community preferences and lived experiences, improving participating, adherence and effectiveness. Such programs include Spanish-language programs, group medical visits and culturally relevant education weaved into its diabetes research and treatment initiatives. By aligning care delivery with community preferences and lived experiences, UCI Health has shifted toward co-created solutions that improve participation, adherence and overall effectiveness.

“The community’s input often reveals practical barriers that data or technology assumptions alone cannot capture,” says Nathan Wong, PhD, director of Heart Disease Prevention Program at the UC Irvine School of Medicine.

“When the community is included early in the design process, health innovations become more usable, more equitable, and ultimately more successful in improving patient-centered outcomes.”

Aligning prevention, treatment, research

To overcome fragmentation across healthcare, research and the community sectors, UCI Health has implemented a coordinated, integrated framework. Clinicians, researchers, and community organizations work together to align the prevention, treatment, and research efforts.

Data-driven initiatives and community partnerships ensure continuity of care, creating a more seamless and effective patient experience.

Inclusive program design

UCI Health is also addressing access and digital equity challenges through inclusive program design. By offering services in Spanish, expanding care into community settings, and utilizing accessible care models, cost, literacy and technology barriers are reduced. These efforts collectively support more equitable diabetes outcomes while establishing a scalable model for community-centered care.

“The question is not only whether an innovation in diabetes works medically, but whether it works for patients and the community,” Dr. Qin Yang, director of the UCI Health Diabetes Center and chief of Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at the UC Irvine School of Medicine, says.

“As UCI Health tracks trust, access, participation, outcomes, and partnership strength together, we can gain a clear picture of whether our collaborative approaches are improving patient-centered health outcomes.”