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Publication · Nursing Open · 2025

Colonial mentality and diabetes self-management in Filipino Americans

Roca, R. P. E., III, Albahsahli, B., Palao, G. J., Palao, G. M., Lance, D., Carpizo, K., & Tolentino, D. A. (2025).

DiabetesFilipino American healthQuantitative study
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The big idea

Colonial mentality is a measurable cultural factor associated with how Filipino Americans manage their type 2 diabetes.

Who
Filipino Americans with type 2 diabetes
How
Cross-sectional survey with validated scales
What we learned
Colonial mentality is associated with diabetes self-management

In plain language

This study explored how “colonial mentality” (internalized beliefs rooted in a colonial past) relates to the way Filipino Americans manage their type 2 diabetes.

About this study

Building on the lab’s qualitative work, this study used validated questionnaires, the Colonial Mentality Scale for Filipino Americans and the Diabetes Self-Management Questionnaire, in an online survey of Filipino American adults with type 2 diabetes.

By measuring colonial mentality directly, the study examined how this cultural factor relates to self-management behaviors, treating culture as something that can be measured and addressed in care.

Key themes

1

Measuring culture

Used validated scales to quantify colonial mentality.

2

Self-management

Examined how these cultural beliefs relate to diabetes self-management behaviors.

3

Toward responsive care

Supports culturally responsive approaches to diabetes care.