KU School of Medicine-Wichita

20 Soothing sounds There's a growing body of research that indicates music has therapeutic eects, including releasing endorphins—hormones that help relieve pain, reduce stress and improve one's sense of well-being. Stress during pregnancy can lead to unhealthy outcomes for mom and baby, including low birth weight or even worse. "Currently there's not a lot of literature out there around interventions during pregnancy, particularly for African American women," Redmond said. "We're interested in African American women because of the high infant mortality and maternal morbidity and mortality rates." A study of maternal death rates for 1999-2019, published in 2023 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, showed Kansas has consistently high maternal mortality rates among African American mothers, especially when compared to rates among all other women in the state. The state also has had a consistently higher infant mortality rate among non-Hispanic Black babies, according to the Kansas Department of Health Type 2 diabetes, according to the eDECIDE website. DECIDE ® stands for Decision-Making Education for Choices in Diabetes Everyday. Most interventions that help those with diabetes learn problem-solving skills to manage their disease tend to be done in group or one-on-one settings. With eDECIDE, an adult with diabetes can have access right at their fingertips. The program includes sessions on topics such as managing stress, increasing physical activity, staying compliant with medications and even talking to one's provider. Feedback from the current participants in eDECIDE's pilot study is helping Redmond and her research team determine how to further tweak and improve the site. "What really excites me is the opportunity to provide an additional tool to people who need to manage their diabetes," Redmond said. About 20 of the 100 screened participants have enrolled or have completed the eDECIDe program. At least one participant has indicated they've lost weight through using the techniques in the program. A portal for diabetes self-management According to May 2024 numbers posted on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Diabetes Statistics Report website, 38.4 million Americans of all ages, or 11.6% of the population, have diabetes; about 95% of those diagnosed have Type 2 diabetes. Diabetes, caused by the body's inability to either produce or use its own insulin eectively, is also a deadly disease; the CDC says it's the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S. Uncontrolled diabetes can lead to serious health complications, including heart disease, stroke, blindness, diabetic neuropathy, amputation and kidney failure. In many cases, behavioral changes like eating a healthier diet, doing more physical activity and applying better diabetic self-management skills can help improve one's quality of life. That's where eDECIDE can help, Redmond said. Adapted from a traditional and successful intervention program initially created by a Johns Hopkins researcher for African Americans in the Boston area, eDECIDE is one of the first web-based platforms that can help adults manage their There's a body of research that indicates music has therapeutic eects that help relieve pain, reduce stress and improve one's sense of well-being.

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