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Situation:
Churches, in partnership
with the American Diabetes
Association's African
American Program, provide an
excellent setting for
grassroots diabetes
awareness programs.
Churches have always played
a critical role in the
African American and
Hispanic community.
"Diabetes Sundays" was
designed to create awareness
about the seriousness of the
disease, to inform churches
and community groups that
African Americans and
Hispanics are at high risk
of developing diabetes and
to educate on the value of
early detection and
diagnosis to prevent or
delay related complications
of the disease.
Challenge:
•Expanding
the program to impact
community organizations
along with churches, and as
a result, changing the name
of the program from
"Diabetes Sundays" to
"Diabetes Days" to reflect
this expansion.
How We Helped:
-
Worked collaboratively with the
Diabetes Days steering committee
to develop event objectives and
goals
-
Created interest the initiative,
built awareness about the health
disparity and motivated churches
and community organizations to
participate in the program
-
Measured initiative success and
provided post-event evaluation
and follow-up
Impact:
For the American Diabetes
Association, we increased awareness
of the disease in the African
American and Hispanic communities
through two kick-off luncheons and a
city-wide community awareness,
outreach and health screening
initiative.
For the luncheon we trained over 150
community, faith-based, and health
leaders of more than 70
organizations and armed them with
the tools necessary to make the
event a success in Austin.
During March, “Diabetes Days”
educational and screening events
occurred across the Greater Austin
area resulting in almost 15,000
individuals being impacted by this
program. |
