Are Diabetes Risk and Preventive Behaviors Shared in Households?

While considerable efforts have focused on care and outcomes associated with the individual affected by diabetes, much less is known about others among the individual’s close relations. The personal social network theory provides a powerful framework to explain the emergence of risk factors and disease by postulating that individuals are embedded within a relational matrix, which in turn plays a central role in influencing health behaviors. Social networks (family, friends and other contacts) can impact health through five primary mechanisms: social support, social influence and imitation, access to resources, social involvement, and person-to-person contagion. We will study these phenomena in Kaiser Permanente Northern California’s large, diverse population.

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