The Diabetes Action Council of South Carolina (DAC), in collaboration with Wholespire, is pleased to announce the recipients of the Preventing Diabetes with Confidence Mini-Grant. The five coalitions selected are:
- Access Health Tri-County (Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties)
- Carolina Diabetes and Kidney Center in collaboration with Clarendon Community Coalition (Sumter, Clarendon, and Kershaw counties)
- Tri-County Health Network (Orangeburg, Calhoun, and Bamberg counties)
- West Columbia-Cayce Food Policy Coalition (Richland and Lexington counties)
- Williamsburg County Community Coalition (Williamsburg County)
The funding will be used to develop and implement an action plan that mobilizes partners and collaborators to advance health equity and address social determinants of health impacting prediabetes and diabetes prevention and management. More specifically, the funding objectives are:
- Raise Awareness of Prediabetes
- Raise Awareness of the availability of the National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP)
- Start one or more new NDPP programs or cohort
- Expand access to existing NDPPs
Prediabetes is a serious preventable condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough yet to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. Before people develop type 2 diabetes, they almost always have prediabetes, which puts them at greater risk of cardiovascular diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.
More than one in three adults have prediabetes, however, 80% of them don’t know they have it. The good news is that prediabetes does not have to lead to diabetes. Lifestyle changes such as eating healthier and being more physically active can help delay or prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes.
The NDPP is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is an evidence-based group lifestyle change program aimed at preventing or delaying the onset of type 2 diabetes in high-risk individuals. The year-long program is facilitated by a trained lifestyle coach and consists of 16 weekly ‘core’ sessions followed by monthly ‘core maintenance’ sessions. The program focuses on helping participants make positive lifestyle changes such as eating healthier, reducing stress, and getting more physical activity.