Making the connection : engaging community partners to address type 2 diabetes in vulnerable populations

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s (CDC) National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion expresses gratitude and thanks to the University of South Dakota\u2019s Chelsea Wesner (Choc- taw), who collected the interviews that inspired this report. Ms. Wesner wrote the report in collaboration with the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Diabetes Translation.All collaborators would especially like to thank staff and community members from the organizations and commu- nity partners featured: Association of American Indian Physicians (AAIP) and Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas\u2019 Kickapoo Diabetes Coalition; Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO); Center for Appala- chian Philanthropy (AppaPhil) and Scioto County Health Coalition; Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Develop- ment Agency (KIPDA) and KIPDA Diabetes Rural Health Coalition; and National Alliance for Hispanic Health and Salud Para La Gente. This report would not have been possible without the sharing of their stories and diverse experience in reducing health disparities associated with type 2 diabetes.Commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s (CDC) National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, this compendium highlights the impact and stories of grantees who were a part of the National Program to Eliminate Diabetes-Related Disparities in Vulnerable Populations, a five-year cooperative agreement between 2010 and 2015.To collect this compendium of stories and interviews, CDC partnered with Chelsea Wesner, an instructor of public health with the School of Health Sciences at the University of South Dakota. Based on interviews with key people in each organization and partnering community, the stories in this compendium demonstrate how grantees, local partners and other stakeholders collaborated to focus on diabetes-related issues through responsive outreach at the individual, family, community, and policy levels. The interviewees discussed strategies used to address risk factors associated with diabetes such as poor nutrition, physical inactivity, lack of diabetes awareness, limited culturally tailored diabetes self-management education and materials and lack of diabetes support in their targeted communities.Suggested citation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2015). Making the connection: Engaging com- munity partners to address Type 2 diabetes in vulnerable populations. A compendium of stories from the CDC\u2019s National Program to Eliminate Diabetes-Related Disparities in Vulnerable Populations. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Diabetes Translation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.vp-compendium.pdf201