New Emory Partnership Announced to Educate and Improve Access to Care for Atlanta-area Minorities with Diabetes

AADE, Emory University and Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institute Partner to Educate and Improve Access to Care for Atlanta-area Minorities with Diabetes


/PRNewswire/ -- The American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) today announced the launch of an Atlanta-based program aimed at improving self-management of diabetes among minority populations. In partnership with Emory University's Latino Diabetes Education Program and the Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institute, the program aims to advance diabetes education in Hispanic and African American populations and to improve clinical and behavioral outcomes. The announcement was made at the Association's annual meeting.

The program will be offered in the Chamblee neighborhood, which is served by the North DeKalb Health Clinic. The clinic is part of the satellite neighborhood network of clinics of Grady Health System in the Metro Atlanta area. Emory's Latino Diabetes Education Program is already serving the Latino community in this area, and will partner with Grady and AADE to implement this minority-specific model.

The "Increasing Access to Diabetes Self-Management Education as a Means of Decreasing Health Disparities in Minority Populations" project aims to:

-- Ensure high quality and culturally appropriate services for people
with diabetes by involving different members of the disease management
team including: physicians, educators, health promoters/community
health workers and other health care professionals.
-- Teach the basics of diabetes self management to populations often
lacking in education and community-focused support.
-- Build upon local program capacity to achieve desired clinical and
behavioral outcomes.

Individuals from minority communities that participate in this program will receive support and tools that will empower them to:

-- Improve their health and clinical outcomes.
-- Change behaviors, set goals and gain problem solving and healthy
coping skills.
-- Learn how to navigate the health care system to increase adherence to
evidence-based guidelines and reduce high-cost emergency department
utilization.

"This program is unique in that it promotes a team approach to diabetes care. Each member of the team -- physician, diabetes educator and community health worker -- supports and builds upon one another's work," said AADE President Marcia Draheim, RN, CDE. "Success will be measured by many factors including clinical improvements, behavioral outcomes, participation and patient satisfaction with the program."

Emory University School of Medicine and Grady Health System have been serving Latinos with diabetes through the Emory Latino Diabetes Education Program. "The program started over three years ago and has reached more than 750 Latinos with diabetes and their families," said Amparo Gonzalez, RN, CDE, director of the program. "This grant offers the opportunity to apply the successes and experiences that the Emory Latino Diabetes Education has had had with Latino community to the African American community."

The program is sponsored through a grant from the Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institute.

Facts about Diabetes in Minority Populations

Diabetes disproportionately affects minority individuals, who comprise a significant segment of the U.S. population. For example, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Latinos represent the United States' largest minority group making up 14.8% of the population or 43 million people.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
-- Non-Hispanic whites: 14.9 million, or 9.8% of all non-Hispanic whites
aged 20 years or older, have diabetes.
-- Non-Hispanic blacks: 3.7 million, or 14.7% of all non-Hispanic blacks
aged 20 years or older, have diabetes.

Moreover, health disparities are increasing in the U.S. Individuals in African American and Hispanic neighborhoods, in particular, face many barriers to achieving successful self-management of their diabetes. These barriers are attributable to structural factors (e.g., lack of sidewalks or access to food stores with affordable produce) as well as the cultural, socio-economic, and literacy characteristics of the people living there.

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