Impact of Know Your Numbers Program on the Knowledge, Health Behaviors, and Well-being of Low-Income, Underinsured, and Uninsured Latino Participants in San Bernardino County

San Bernardino County (SBC) has one of the highest mortality rates of diabetes and hypertension in the United States. Approximately 50% of its residents are Latino, 26% of whom are uninsured and living below the poverty line. These characteristics diminish their proactiveness in seeking out health care and chronic disease screening services that could potentially reduce their risks and address the disparities.

Know Your Numbers (KYN) is a screening program that aims to improve the knowledge, health-related behaviors, and well-being of low-income, uninsured, and underinsured Latino participants living in SBC. The pilot program will be implemented in February 2015 and will assess participants’ blood pressure, body mass index, blood cholesterol, and blood glucose numbers at no cost on a quarterly basis. Participants will also be given educational materials about the numbers and will be referred to a Healthy Eating Lifestyle Program.

Approximately 40 adult participants will be recruited at a local Salvation Army during food bank hours. Another 40 participants will be recruited as a matched control group but will not receive any screening, education materials, or referral. A questionnaire assessing knowledge and health-related behaviors will be administered to the 80 intervention and control participants before and after the KYN program is implemented. KYN values from the quarterly screenings will also be monitored for participants in the intervention group over the course of one year. Data will be analyzed to compare differences between pre-KYN and post-KYN participation within the intervention group, as well as between control and intervention participants.