Diabetes Outreach Programs

Diabetes is a life-threatening illness that is often preventable and manageable. Outreach programs are implemented in areas of need where people lack resources or information regarding diabetes prevention or treatment. Thanks to diabetes outreach programs, lifestyle and dietary changes can help to save or improve the quality of life for some people who suffer from this illness.

National Diabetes Education Program

• The National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) is a diabetes outreach project sponsored by the National Institute of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The purpose of NDEP is for prevention or delay of diabetes and to minimize the illnesses and deaths related to diabetes. NDEP accomplishes its mission by increasing public awareness regarding the seriousness of diabetes, and by promoting lifestyle changes, self-care and health-care policies for diabetics and at-risk communities. Populations that are targeted include people suffering from diabetes and their families, those at-risk especially within ethnic minorities, health-care professionals and community health-care workers. Activities promoted by NDEP address diabetes awareness and education for health-care professionals and those at-risk or living with diabetes as well as tools and resources to support behavior changes and improve the quality of life for those with diabetes.

  National Diabetes Education Program

  One Diabetes Way

  Bethesda, MD 20814

  301-496-3583

  yourdiabetesinfo.org

Appalachian Diabetes Control and Translation Project

• The purpose of the Appalachian Diabetes Control and Translation Project (ADCTP) is to minimize the effect of diabetes on the high-risk population living in the Appalachian Region in the eastern United States. ADCTP uses the CDC's "Diabetes Today" model to provide epidemiological assistance, to encourage local leadership to collect statistical information regarding diabetes and to plan community-based diabetes prevention and maintenance measures. There are 13 states participating in this outreach program including Virginia, Tennessee, New York, South Carolina, North Carolina, Ohio, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, Alabama and Georgia. These states have partnered with the CDC and the Appalachian Regional Commission to implement the ADCTP. Approximately 23 million people live in the Appalachian region, and 42 percent of the population is rural compared to 20 percent of the national rural population. The majority of residents living in the Appalachian region are isolated due to the mountainous terrain, and jobs, education and medical care are limited.

  Appalachian Diabetes Control and Translation Project

  1-888-232-6348

  cdc.gov/diabetes/projects/appalachian.htm

Project DIRECT

• Project DIRECT, which is an acronym for Diabetes Intervention Reaching and Educating Communities Together, is a community demonstration project. The goal of Project DIRECT is to develop and implement diabetes prevention programs statewide and programs for controlling diabetes at a national level. The project is a collaboration between the Division of Public Health in the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC, Wake County Human Services and the southeast Raleigh, North Carolina community. The target population for Project DIRECT is the African-American community of southeast Raleigh. This outreach program is the largest community project for diabetes in the United States. Project DIRECT has implemented programs in the community that reduce risk factors for diabetes, aid in identifying individuals who have diabetes and to improve the quality of heath care diabetics receive.

  Project DIRECT

  Diabetes Prevention and Control Unit

  Division of Public Health

  Department of Health and Human Services

  Mail Service Center 1915

  Raleigh, NC 27699

  cdc.gov/diabetes/projects/direct.htm