A County Healthcare Network's Diabetes Education Outreach Program

Objective:: To reduce the occurrence and progression of diabetes by teaching general wellness and advanced self-management skills to individuals through community outreach classes in high risk communities with a preponderance of African-American and Hispanic patients.

Methods::  Our county healthcare network used grant funding to expand from clinic based services to outreach programs via partnerships with the University of North Texas Health Science Center, a Promotores organization, and community coalitions. One outreach program, the “Lifestyle” class, has been particularly effective and will be highlighted in the presentation.  Trained community health workers teach these evening classes at neighborhood sites such as churches.  Self-monitoring tools include patient logs for weight, exercise, diet, A1C, and “Diabingo” (a novel clinical checklist game).  The Lifestyle classes are just one component of our healthcare network’s outreach program, which also offers wellness, nutrition, exercise and cooking classes.

Results:: The program is now in its third year.  Data from year two show that the program exceeded goals, providing 45 classes in English and 23 in Spanish,  reaching 491/250 participants.  Diabingo participation also exceeded goals, with 57% of class participants enrolled (544 of 958 patients).  The total wellness outreach program served over 12,000 participants in its second year, including 7407 African-American and 3473 Hispanic.  Retention and demographic data will also be presented, along with illustrative case studies.

Conclusion:: Funded by a modest $80,000 grant, the program has been successful, increasing from 4803 to 12,000+ participants in one year.  Classes continue to expand to additional neighborhoods as resources allow.