Volunteer-led project empowers Chinese community with culturally tailored diabetes education
- tobyvue
- Jul 11
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 2
Thousands of Mandarin speakers have accessed vital diabetes education through a volunteer-based project led by endocrinologist Cecilia Chi and CDE Scarlett Huang, both based in NSW.
Recognising the gaps and barriers that this community faced as healthcare rapidly shifted to telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Chi and Ms Huang developed a suite of culturally tailored educational videos for the Chinese community.
Ms Huang said language barriers made it difficult for many people to understand medical advice, and there were other challenges, such as the lack of professional interpreters and unreliable translation accuracy in existing materials.
"Dietary guidance was also lacking. Traditional Chinese foods were often overlooked or misunderstood in diabetes education, leaving people without relevant nutritional advice," Ms Huang said.
"Food holds profound significance for immigrants, serving as a powerful symbol of love, comfort and familial bonds.
"It acts as a vital link to their homeland while offering solace in foreign lands, and this connection between food, culture and emotional well-being is well documented in the limited research exploring diabetes management experiences among migrant communities in Australia."
Dr Chi said that dietary guidance was particularly challenging because "diet varies so much across different regions and backgrounds,” including within Chinese community itself.
"So generic advice often doesn’t meet people’s real needs," she said.
Ms Huang said while dietary advice was a strong focus of the videos, they also cover a broad range of information that encompasses the various questions people may encounter with their diabetes care.
These topics range from exercise to diabetes complications and blood glucose monitoring.
Building a collaborative, volunteer-led project
Determined to fill this gap, Dr Chi and Ms Huang assembled a team of Mandarin-speaking healthcare professionals, including CDEs, endocrinologists, dietitians, cardiologists, renal specialists and podiatrists.
"We were incredibly fortunate to have many Mandarin-speaking healthcare professionals volunteer their time to help achieve our mission, Ms Huang said.
Although workloads were overwhelming, Ms Huang dedicated her personal time to creating, translating and proofreading the videos.
"As the saying goes, 'with great power comes great responsibility'," she said.
"This belief, that we could truly make a difference for the Mandarin-speaking diabetes community in our local health district, drove us to push through every obstacle and turn this vision into reality."
Dr Chi said the project’s success was largely due to strong personal networks.
"We reached out to doctors and other staff we already knew, essentially asking for favours," she said.
We were very fortunate that the responses were overwhelmingly positive.
The team partnered with the Multicultural Health Communication Service (MHCS), initially releasing the videos via WeChat, a widely used social media platform among the Chinese community.
Positive feedback led to further distribution on the MHCS NSW YouTube channel and GoShare for NSW Health, broadening their reach significantly.
"We have thousands of views on WeChat and YouTube, and people have directly fed back regarding the usefulness of the videos," Ms Huang said.
Looking ahead to community engagement
Dr Chi and Ms Huang's work is far from finished.
Their next step is to form a community working group within the Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD).
Plans are already underway for a community forum on 25 October in Epping, northwest of Sydney, focusing on diet and blood glucose monitoring.
The event will involve partnerships with local councils, libraries and Chinese community leaders.
"We hope this will lead to the formation of a local community group that can run activities such as regular exercise groups for people interested in improving diabetes management and preventing diabetes," Dr Chi said.
She said that building partnerships beyond healthcare professionals is essential.
"Working with local councils and community leaders ensures we’re not just delivering health information but truly connecting with the community in ways that matter," she said.
Lessons for CDEs
Reflecting on the experience, Ms Huang offered key lessons for other CDEs wanting to support culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
"Cultural humility is foundational," she said.
"Language is more than translation; it’s about accessibility.
"Research highlights that some individuals from non-English-speaking backgrounds rely on friends or family members to interpret for them during consultations.
"Others, when unable to comprehend medical advice, turn to peers with similar health experiences instead."
Ms Huang said building trust is also essential:
Working with community leaders is crucial to bridging cultural gaps and promoting better health outcomes.
Dr Chi and Ms Huang's initiative stands as a powerful example of grassroots collaboration, innovation and dedication, values that lie at the heart of the work done by diabetes health professionals across Australia.
For more information or to access the educational videos, click here or download the promotional leaflet below.
Dr Chi and Ms Huang sincerely thank the following and organisations and individuals for their invaluable support, guidance, and contributions.
Organisations
Western Sydney Diabetes (WSD)
Blacktown Hospital diabetes and endocrinology department
Westmead Hospital diabetes centre
Multicultural Health Communication Service NSW
Individuals (in alphabetical order)
Elizabeth Chen, Optometrist
Dr Jenny Chen, Renal physician
Dr Robert Cheng, Gastroenterologist
Michael He, Podiatrist
Cathy Liang, Physiotherapist
Dr Shannon Lin, APD CDE
Naxin Jiang, CDE CNC
Professor Glen Maberly, Endocrinologist, Director of WSD
Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz, WSD Statistician
Aruni Ratnayake, WSD Diabetes Prevention Officer
Sam Shen, MHCS Communication Officer
Ida Song, CDE CNS
Heloise Tolar, WSD Diabetes Communication Officer
Dr Anne Trang, General Practitioner
Dr Tommy Wong, Cardiologist
Tingting Xu, CDE NP
Wei Zhang, CDE CNC
Have a story to share? ADEA welcomes member contributions about the work you’re doing to make a difference in diabetes care. Please feel free to reach out to us at communications@adea.com.au.