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Meeting Announcements

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Current Projects

Prevention

The Prevention Committee’s focus is to provide people and health care providers with educational information and resources about preventing type 2 diabetes. The target population is people with pre-diabetes or at high risk for developing diabetes.

One way the committee accomplishes this is by awarding small grants to community projects that address diabetes prevention.

The recipients of the 2006 Diabetes Primary Prevention Grants are listed below,

along with a brief overview of their projects.

Children’s Fitness Clinic (Charlottesville) – The University of Virginia’s Children’s Fitness Clinic will collaborate with partners to offer “Growing Up Healthy.” This pilot program will be provided in an after school setting to educate children about good nutrition and engage them in fun physical activities. Parents will be included in at least one session to learn about the health concerns facing overweight children and the prevention of type 2 diabetes.

Eastern Shore Community Services Network (Nassawadox) – The “Be Healthy, Measure Up for Those You Love” program will target African Americans who are at high risk for developing diabetes. At identified church functions, church members will participate in diabetes risk assessments and health screenings. Those with risk factors or pre-diabetes will attend 4 educational sessions and be encouraged to participate in a walking program. After 4-6 months a celebration dinner will take place and participants will be re-screened to assess progress.

Irvin Gammon Craig Health Center (Richmond) – Craig Health Center will expand on its “Weight and Wellness” program that provides weekly educational sessions on good eating habits and exercise for patients who want to lose weight. Each session focuses on a different aspect of weight management, including a session on the health risks of obesity in relation to type 2 diabetes. The second part of the project will target patients who are pre-diabetic or at high risk for developing diabetes and provide them with individual diabetes education.

Page Memorial Hospital (Luray) – The hospital’s “Lunch and Learn Diabetes Prevention Program” is designed to decrease the incidence of type 2 diabetes among those with pre-diabetes or at high risk of developing diabetes. Those who attend will learn about nutrition, participate in physical activity, develop personal goals and gain knowledge about maintaining lifestyle balance. Each participant will have a buddy and a mentor to ongoing support between sessions.

The recipients of the 2005 Diabetes Primary Prevention Grants are listed below,

along with a brief overview of their projects.

Irvin Gammon Craig Health Center, Inc. (Richmond, VA): Weight & Wellness program designed to target a group of 15 low-income men and women with limited educational backgrounds with the goal of helping participants understand the effect of diet and body weight on their health as well as providing the tools to change eating and exercise patterns.

Landstown Middle School (Virginia Beach, VA): A 12-week program that targets a group of 25 middle school students with the goal of increasing their physical activity level and expanding their knowledge regarding making healthy lifestyle choices.

South Norfolk Health Center (Chesapeake, VA): A 9-week program that targets a group of 50-75 high risk hypertensive patients with the goal of increasing their physical activity and addressing one of their risk factors for developing diabetes.
Please check back for program updates!

Active Footwear for Active Feet

A committee established in 2005 by a generous $3,000 donation from the Virginia Podiatric Medical Association. The goal of the committee is to address the need for increased physical activity by providing properly-fitted active footwear for individuals in need with diabetes.

Education Resources

The goal of the Education Resources Committee is to develop or endorse high quality patient and professional education resources for prevention and management of diabetes. Our resources are designed to promote compliance with nationally recognized standards of care in the areas of:

Glucose (blood sugar) control - A1c less than 7%
Foot care – wash and check feet daily, annual foot exam by doctor
Lipid (cholesterol) management - LDL less than 100
Blood pressure less than 130/80
Diabetes self-care, including nutrition and physical activity

The Virginia Department of Health conducts an annual survey of diabetes self-management practices as part of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS). This survey’s results serve as a basis for selecting areas to emphasize in the development of Virginia Diabetes Council’s educational resources and projects. The 1995-2003 BRFSS data shows that:

50% of Virginians with diabetes check their blood sugar daily and 86% have their A1c checked twice a year

67.5% of Virginians with diabetes have an annual foot exam by a doctor
67% of Virginians with diabetes have an annual eye exam, 54% received annual flu shot and 45% had a pneumococcal vaccine

See the Patient and Professional Resources pages of the website to preview and download VDC’s educational resources. Please complete the Diabetes Educational Resources Evaluation Form to tell us what you think about our materials.