Southwest Diabetes Prevention Center

Southwest Diabetes Prevention Center

Principal Investigator: John M. Booker, Ph.D.
Start and End Dates: October 1999 – September 2004
Source of Funding: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Southwest Diabetes Prevention Center was established as a demonstration project to address the growing epidemic of diabetes and related public health problems facing American Indian communities. The various activities and education and training programs enabled building capacity within these communities to come to grips with the problem and to create new solutions. This past year was the fifth and final year of the CDC cooperative agreement, with a change in direction in how education and training programs are offered.

Final Year of SDPC. After careful thought and reviews of the accomplishments of the SDPC since 1999 when it was first established, and an assessment of costs and benefits, a change in direction was implemented in 2003. Responding to local needs, and in partnership with newly developed programs at the UNM-Gallup Campus, a no-cost extension was proposed to CDC, effective through September 2004, to support the creation of a UNM-Gallup diabetes prevention training program that will combine a prevention specialist certificate with an Associates degree in community health. This would institutionalize some of the most innovative and productive program activities developed during SDPC’s existence. The proposal was accepted by the CDC, to provide one year of funding for the new UNM-Gallup diabetes prevention specialist program and to expand and continue the Resource Center, as a collection of the UNM-Gallup Library.

Research. SDPC supported four community-based prevention research projects during the last two years of regular funding. Blessing the Medicine Man , based in Tuba City, AZ, was completed in September 2002. The Navajo Communities in Action for Wellness project changed to a non-research focus with case study evaluations completed to illustrate lessons learned, and Resource Roundtables in June 2003. The Gallup Indian Medical Center – Glucose Control Using Pharmacy-Based Intervention project, begun early spring 2002, held focus groups in July 2002, and the results were used to prepare the Diabetes Quality of Life and Diabetes Knowledge assessment tools, useful for future research endeavors. This project ended in January 2003. The Zuni Healthy Foods First intervention project completed its objectives in promoting healthful eating with education, cooking classes and training in grocery shopping, and conducted post-intervention interviews from January through Ma rch. This project was completed in September, 2003.

Training and Education. During 2002-03, SDPC sponsored 8 Rio Grande Institute workshops in Santa Fe. The Summer Research Enhancement Program, co-sponsored by Diné College, was held in Summer 2002 and Summer 2003 at the Tsaile, Arizona, campus. It provided 10 weeks of research training for 17-20 American Indian college students each year, drawn from across the country, and CHPDP hosted two of the 2003 participants in mentored research experiences. SDPC collaborated with the Central Arizona College (CAC) Diabetes Prevention Assistant Certificate Program, to have ten college-level courses (14 credit hours) on diabetes prevention, nutrition, and wellness, offered for regional diabetes program staff at the IHS training center in Santa Fe. SDPC also supported three conferences: The 5th Annual Community Research Conference in November in Window Rock, AZ, that included a Pathways curriculum presentation. The Native Diabetes Prevention Conference, co-sponsored with the University of Oklahoma Health Promotion Programs and Native American Prevention Resource Center, was held in Phoenix, AZ, in January 2003. And the 5th Annual SW Diabetes Prevention Conference was held in May 2003.

For more information, contact Dr. Liz Gilbert, (505) 863-7588, University of New Mexico - Gallup.