Diabetes Working Group

     On behalf of the Los Angeles Health Improvement Collaborative, Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science, Healthy African American Families, Inc. (HAAF), To Help Everyone Clinic, Inc., University of California Los Angeles, RAND Corporation, and the Department of Health Services have partnered to develop an intervention research project(s) to improve diabetes related outcomes using community-based participatory research principles and methods. Specifically, this highly innovative proposal entitled Community Unity for Research, Education, Intervention and Treatment for Diabetes Mellitus (CURE IT- DM) engaged the community and created a pilot intervention research study through a community-partnered participatory research framework. CURE-IT DM used the 24 diabetes-related (including gestational diabetes) areas presented at the Diabetes Throughout the Lifespan conference as the nidus for creating areas to prioritize.
    “A Conference to Address Diabetes Throughout the Lifespan", was held in March 2005 and gave over 1200 community members the opportunity to become aware of the emerging devastation Diabetes is causing throughout communities nationwide. The partnerships that developed post conference consist of over 100 organizations and are still growing. The contributing organizations are drawing expertise from community members, health professionals and research academia. In addition there are local legislative offices engaged in the work process.  The post conference activities developed three working groups and are governed by a peer support group consisting of researchers, community and academia.  The peer support group uses several features of the HAAF model for partnership to facilitate group development.  The workgroups are Tier I (Practical Tools for Healthy Living), Tier II (Media and the Environment), and Tier III (Supporting and Taking Care of Our Elders).  The activities of each workgroup are chosen collaboratively from planning to execution, to the analysis and final evaluation.  Tier I works to link resources that can teach diet and nutrition while addressing the cultural barriers.  Tier II develops outreach strategies through media venues to improve education and awareness of diabetes campaigns.  Tier III advocated for seniors to have health care policy changes and better information for improved doctor visits, which translate into better health outcomes.