Using a Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach, we have conducted four focus groups and individual interviews with the Marshallese community to better understand how to best address the well-established need for diabetes education. Through interviews and focus groups, Marshallese participants pointed out that the delivery method and the concept of self-management as an individual experience are problematic components. DSME was designed with a very Western societal approach, which is highly individualistic. The Marshallese have a highly collectivist culture and the idea of ―self‖ management is counter to their cultural values. As stakeholders described, ―we eat together from one pot. For one person to refuse the food from that one pot is not just inconvenient, it is shameful. It shames the person and the person's family. It is not an acceptable option. We will not do it. The interviewees stated that any changes must be a family change. Incorporating collectivist and family concepts into the delivery mechanism is imperative. Through the interviews and focus groups, the Marshallese community suggested that DSME be implemented within a family model with a family group receiving DSME so that the entire family can benefit and the patient can be supported in their effort to make lifestyle changes. Because ~30-50% of the Marshallese community have type 2 diabetes, this approach could be even more beneficial.