Two weeks into January and many New Year’s Resolutions are already being reconsidered or dismissed entirely. For those with chronic diseases, adopting new habits can be a matter of life or death. Despite potentially high stakes, change is still hard and providing accountability from others is the first step to achieving success.
Qualified staff from the Great Plains Quality Innovation Network (Great Plains QIN) and other partner organizations across the four-state region are working with healthcare facilities and communities to provide chronic disease self-management education programs focused on setting goals and forming healthy habits. Establishing a referral process to self-management programs is the first step for healthcare facilities and providers to advance patient-centered care and achieve improvements in clinical outcome measures.
Successfully improving health outcomes and reducing issues of health disparities among people with diabetes can both be accomplished through evidence-based programs, such as the Stanford Diabetes Self-Management and the Diabetes Empowerment Education Program (DEEP).
| Stanford Diabetes Self-Management | Diabetes Empowerment Education Program (DEEP) |
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| Offered in Kansas and South Dakota | Offered in Nebraska and North Dakota | |
| Developed by Stanford Medicine | Developed by University of Illinois-Chicago Midwest Latino Health Research, Training and Policy Center | |
| 2 ½ hour sessions for 6 weeks | 2 hour sessions for 6 weeks | |
| Evidence-based curriculum of 5 topic areas | Evidence-based curriculum of 8 adaptable modules | |
| Certification required for trainers | Certification required for peer educators | |
| Target participants: adults with diabetes and pre-diabetes, caregivers and relatives, all interested parties | Target participants: adults with diabetes and pre-diabetes, caregivers and relatives, all interested parties |
The Great Plains QIN is working to improve health outcomes and reduce issues of health disparities among people with diabetes. Contact the appropriate Great Plains QIN state contact for additional information on workshop availability as well as tools and resources for referring or developing community-based workshops.