1487-P: Disseminating Information on Atypical Diabetes through Community Health Workers

Introduction and Objective: The Rare and Atypical Diabetes Network (RADIANT) aims to characterize atypical forms of diabetes. To study how community health workers (CHWs) may support participant recruitment, we gathered CHW perspectives on the advantages and challenges of this approach. Methods: In partnership with the University of Houston CHW Initiative, we trained 128 CHWs on atypical diabetes and research participation through 5 education sessions. Over 15 months, CHWs conducted outreach in 4 low-income neighborhoods (24-65% Black; 41-80% Latino), engaging >253 individuals in an atypical diabetes education program.To explore CHWs’ experiences providing education about atypical diabetes and research participation through RADIANT, we conducted a semi-structured focus group. The session was recorded, transcribed, and translated. Thematic analysis was conducted. Results: Six themes were identified: barriers to community engagement, challenges to rare disease education, motivations for research participation, effective education strategies, impacts of CHW-led education, and CHW needs.Barriers included distrust in medicine, low health literacy, and perceptions of limited personal relevance. Unfamiliarity with atypical diabetes and disease rarity further challenged outreach. CHWs reported their own knowledge gaps, highlighting the need for training and research team support. They described community members’ motivations to better understand their diabetes and clarify uncertain diagnoses. Effective education strategies included tailoring language to the audience. CHWs perceived positive impacts including information shared beyond initial contacts and connecting individuals with atypical diabetes to RADIANT. Conclusion: CHW perspectives suggest that tailoring messages and leveraging trusted relationships are important strategies for educating underserved communities about atypical diabetes. With sufficient support, CHWs could play a meaningful role in sharing information about atypical diabetes and research participation in RADIANT. Disclosure A.E. Davis: None. M. Wahlquist: None. D. Price: None. C. Paz Hoffman: None. J. Faruqi: Research Support; Current; Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc.