As part of ongoing collaborative efforts to reduce the impact of chronic diseases, obesity and diabetes in San Joaquin County (SJC), SJC Public Health Services (PHS) has been granted funding from Health Plan of San Joaquin and Sierra Health Foundation to develop and offer a new, innovative and interactive diabetes prevention program that will be facilitated by trained peer health educators.
The goal of the DiPPEP pilot is to decrease the incidence of Type 2 diabetes by building local capacity to address chronic disease issues using culturally appropriate approaches. Local trained peer educators will conduct a free series of three classes at locations in the community. Participants will learn about diabetes prevention strategies and skills to improve their nutrition and physical activity that will help maintain their health and reduce their risks of Type 2 diabetes.
PHS is collaborating with parish nurses at St. Joseph’s Medical Center to recruit and train 13 lay health educators who will each receive a stipend for working with a group of “at-risk” peers and community members to address the issues involved in preventing diabetes. Since statistics indicate that Hispanics and African-Americans are at greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, they will be the main target groups of this project, and the classes will be conducted in Spanish and English. Qualifying “at-risk” participants will be those who self-identify as being at risk for diabetes.
The peer educators will use the “Road to Health,” a tested and approved curriculum by the National Diabetes Education Program from the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). PHS is looking forward to implementing this new project and continuing its work with the community to build healthy futures for the people of San Joaquin County.
For more information, please call the PHS DiPPEP program at 209-468-8637.