As NACDD moves into fiscal year 2024, we are excited about the Association’s new opportunities to support our Mission, including new projects aimed at advancing health equity within communities and more.
We began our fiscal year on October 1 with seven unique cooperative agreements; many are a continuation involving our largest bodies of work, which include cancer, heart disease and stroke prevention, diabetes, arthritis, and public health leadership. We are proud of the vast array of federally funded projects and our growing portfolio that ultimately supports you – our Members.
We are especially thrilled to announce new funding awards for FY24, including a groundbreaking partnership with Virginia Tech aimed at advancing the study of diabetes management and social support interventions.
NACDD and Virginia Tech’s collaboration will explore the potential of CDC’s New Beginnings: A Discussion Guide for Living Well With Diabetes in reaching those people who need help managing their diabetes. By using a storytelling approach to open and guide discussions, New Beginnings connects emotionally with participants and can help them to think in new and different ways about how they manage diabetes. It brings together aspects of participant-centered design, mindfulness practices, and critical thinking skills to look at topics such as living well with diabetes, building self-confidence, and managing stress.
We are also excited about a new project funded by CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health and the CDC Division of Cancer Prevention and Control. As part of a consortium of national organizations, NACDD will lead this network to accelerate the decline in commercial tobacco use and reduce the incidence and mortality of tobacco-related cancers by concentrating on prevention and control efforts for people with disabilities, including veterans. This initiative will involve the establishment of state chapters within Communities of Practice to advance health equity by addressing the Social Determinants of Health and provide technical assistance on evidence-based and promising practice-based policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) interventions. It’s exciting to embark upon these new tobacco-related projects, as these are NACDD’s first projects in this area.
NACDD has also received new funding that will directly impact NACDD Members with professional development and leadership opportunities, as well as technical assistance and development of new resources and tools to enhance your work via the Center for Public Health Leadership (CPHL).
In October we began the implementation of a new, five-year cooperative agreement, “National Organization for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion,” funded by CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. This work, led by CPHL, will support the nation’s public health workforce to transform practice and accelerate improvements in population health. During this five-year project period, NACDD will continue to focus on public health organizational and workforce capacity building to identify, implement, and evaluate innovative strategies and activities to address chronic disease prevention and health promotion while building leadership and communication skills and centering equity in every facet of its work.
Our commitment to improving public health remains unwavering, and we are excited to embark on these new projects, as well as our existing work, to help reduce health disparities and create a healthier, more inclusive future for all. We look forward to sharing more as these projects progress, and we look forward to working on your behalf in FY24.