FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Paige Rohe, prohe@chronicdisease.org, 404-924-8295
ATLANTA (Oct. 31, 2022) – NACDD, in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Diabetes Translation (DDT) and ABC/Disney have launched a groundbreaking prediabetes national television campaign, Imagine You Preventing Type 2. The campaign aims to educate the approximately 96 million US adults living with prediabetes about how they can reverse their current health circumstances to prevent type 2 diabetes. Three Americans’ real-life stories are showcased to demonstrate how the CDC’s National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP) and the program’s lifestyle coaches have helped them to take charge of their own health.
“NACDD has become increasingly influential in the public service announcement space, including its Emmy-nominated work with CDC and CBS on Your Health Beyond COVID videos encouraging people with chronic diseases to protect their health during and after the pandemic,” noted John Patton, vice president of NACDD’s Center for Innovation and Partnership.
Prediabetes is a condition that causes an elevated glucose level that is not high enough for a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, but that is reversible before becoming diabetes. One key feature of the National DPP is the CDC-recognized lifestyle change program, a research-based program focusing on healthy eating and physical activity. The National DPP has shown that people with prediabetes who take part in a structured lifestyle change program can cut their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58% (71% for people over 60 years old). That outcome is twice as effective as the leading diabetes prevention prescription drug.
Lifestyle change participants learn skills to build healthy habits with the support of a trained lifestyle coach during the course of the one-year program. Those important coaches are featured in the ad campaign. Campaign participants share their progress about overcoming challenges, changing their habits, and celebrating successes.
“I feel so healthy, and I see a much happier future for myself,” declared Brenda Daniher, a Colorado resident who reaped the benefits of participating in the lifestyle change program. “I believe this program saved my life from disability and pain, and I feel so healthy. I am a new person!” View Daniher’s video, “Finding her way back to the trail.”
Each video concludes with a call to action for viewers to visit cdc.gov/DiabetesTV to learn more about the National DPP and to find a program near them. State and local organizations can pay to place ads on ABC stations in their markets. Ads also can be placed in movie theaters and doctor’s offices.
“NACDD has worked with CDC’s Division of Diabetes Translation for more than 30 years to support national and state efforts to prevent and manage diabetes and its complications,” said NACDD CEO John W. Robitscher, MPH. “Currently, NACDD leads and manages multiple projects to expand, build sustainability, and increase access, enrollment, and completion for both the National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP) and diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) services.”
For more information on ways states and territories can partner with NACDD to bring health messages to their communities, contact jpatton@chronicdisease.org.
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The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors
Promoting Health. Preventing Disease.
The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) and its more than 7,000 Members seek to strengthen state-based leadership and expertise for chronic disease prevention and control in states and nationally. Established in 1988, in partnership with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NACDD is the only membership association of its kind to serve and represent every chronic disease division in all states and U.S. territories. For more information, visit chronicdisease.org.