Diabetes Dateline
NDEP News: NDEP Outreach Includes Business
Community, Expanded Multicultural Products
The National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP), a Federal initiative
sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney
Diseases (NIDDK) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has
published a white paper to make corporations aware of the need for their
participation in improving diabetes care and education among employees.
The paper is titled Making a Difference: The Business Community Takes
on Diabetes. "In the long run, workers will be more productive, experiencing
fewer diabetes-related complications and lower costs associated with managing
diabetes," says Joanne Gallivan, NDEP director for NIDDK.
"With Americans spending more hours at work than at any time in recent
memory, the business community has an unprecedented opportunity to help
all workers become healthier," says Gallivan. Some 6 percent of the U.S.
population has diabetes. NDEP notes that the challenge is to determine
how businesses of all sizes can most effectively help their employees
with diabetes manage their disease and continue to contribute to the success
of their organizations.
Making a Difference: The Business Community Takes on Diabetes (NDEP-33)
provides business leaders with the facts they need to create effective interventions,
for the benefit of both employees with diabetes and the business enterprise
as a whole. This white paper includes research data on the key role of good
glycemic control in maintaining employees' quality of life and economic
productivity, as well as some examples of programs that corporations have
already undertaken.
A Diabetes Community Partnership Guide (NDEP-21) is a planning
tool for local community leaders that is full of ideas for creating dynamic
partnerships between health organizations and other community resources—such
as government and civic, business, social, and religious groups—to control
diabetes. Successful strategies for managing and controlling diabetes
include community support, individual counseling and education, group
education and support classes, regular blood sugar testing and screening
for complications, and routine followup. Improved diabetes care and education
will help workers remain productive, decrease diabetes-related complications,
and reduce associated costs over time.
The six multicultural media campaigns introduced in the previous issue
of Diabetes Dateline (Winter 1999–2000) are now being distributed.
Kits focus on each of the following minority populations: African American,
American Indian, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and Hispanic American.
A general audience kit and a Medicare kit are also available. Each includes
statistics, sample public service ads for print and electronic media,
and resources and educational material for patients. Representatives from
all four minority groups mentioned above participated in the development
and testing of the kits, which were market-tested in culturally diverse
focus groups across the country.
The Asian and Pacific Islander kit has now been translated into 11 languages:
Cambodian, Chinese, Gujarati, Hindi, Hmong, Ilokano, Korean, Laotian,
Samoan, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.
You may order these materials online at http://www.ndep.nih.gov/diabetes/pubs/catalog.htm
on the Internet. Single copies are free, and a one-copy limit applies.
Content is not copyrighted and is fully reproducible. NDEP encourages
any community health organization engaged in diabetes information outreach
through the media to order the kits appropriate to its target audiences.
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