Brook E. Harmon

Purpose To examine associations between sociodemographic variables, social determinants of health (SDOHs) and diabetes using health needs assessment data. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Faith-based communities in the Mid-South U.S. Sample Of the 378 churches, 92 participated in the study (24% response rate); N = 828 church leaders and members completed the survey. Measure The Mid-South Congregational Health Survey assessed perceived health-related needs of congregations and the communities they serve. Analysis Generalized linear mixed modeling examined the associations between sociodemographic variables (age, sex, race/ethnicity, educational level), SDOHs (affordable healthcare, healthy food, employment), and diabetes. Results Individuals with less education had lower odds of reporting all SDOHs as health needs compared to individuals with more education (OR range = .59-.63). Men had lower odds of reporting diabetes as a health need or concern compared to women (OR = .70; 95% CI = .50, .97). African Americans had greater odds of reporting diabetes as a health need compared to individuals in the ‘Other’ race/ethnicity category (OR = 3.91; 95% CI = 2.20, 6.94). Individuals who reported affordable healthcare (OR = 2.54; 95% CI = 1.73, 3.72), healthy food (OR = 2.24; 95% CI = 1.55, 3.24), and employment (OR = 3.33; 95% CI = 2.29, 4.84) as health needs had greater odds of reporting diabetes as a health need compared to those who did not report these SDOHs as needs. Conclusions Future studies should evaluate strategies to merge healthcare and faith-based organizations’ efforts to address SDOHs impacting diabetes.