More than 100 million Americans have either type 2 diabetes or prediabetes, both preventable diseases. In 2012, type 2 diabetes had direct and indirect costs to the American healthcare system and economy totaling $245 billion.
Fortunately, research indicates that participation in a diabetes prevention program focused on promoting nutrition and healthy behaviors — including smoking cessation and physical activity — can lead to a 5 to 7 percent reduction in a patient’s weight. This level of weight loss can be enough to prevent the progression of the disease. Improving diabetes management through increased use of evidence-based prevention programs could help millions of patients avoid diabetes and combat the national epidemic.
Innovative Programs for Vulnerable Populations
ACPM is proud to be partnering with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on a multi-year initiative to support innovative community-based approaches to diabetes prevention. One of the main components of the collaboration is a grant program that supports health care organization’s efforts to design and test diabetes prevention program recruitment and retention strategies among vulnerable populations, specifically African-American and Hispanic-American women.
Despite having a higher age-adjusted incidence of diabetes compared to non-Hispanic white women, African-American and Hispanic women account for only about 20 percent of diabetes prevention program enrollees, compared to nearly 60 percent of enrollees who are white.