The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors is one of ten national grantees receiving funding from the CDC Division of Diabetes Translation to scale and sustain the National Diabetes Prevention Program in rural U.S. counties where programs do not currently exist. 

Referred to by its funding announcement number, 1705, this 5-year, nationally competitive award began October 1, on the heels of the previous CDC National DPP scaling initiative awarded to NACDD in 2012. “We are delighted that CDC recognized NACDD’s significant work in the area of diabetes and prediabetes and allowing us to bring the National DPP to places it has never gone before,” said John Robitscher, CEO of the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors.

As part of its proposal, NACDD identified both geographic and population-based priorities. In addition to the general public, NACDD will serve the disability community by collaborating with the Lakeshore Foundation. As one of the nation’s premier disability organizations, Lakeshore adapted the National DPP Prevent T2 curriculum for persons with disabilities. NACDD will work with Lakeshore to train staff to deliver this unique curriculum in four states. 

Geographically, NACDD will focus its efforts on counties without National DPP lifestyle change program sites in Pennsylvania, New York, Florida and Alaska. To lead the effort in each state, NACDD will partner with the Health Promotion Council in Pennsylvania, the New York Association of Independent Living Centers, the Florida Department of Health, and the Alaska Department of Health.

To reach populations that cannot attend an in-person lifestyle change program, NACDD will partner with Hope 80/20 to deliver the program via internet-video and live weekly coaching calls. In Alaska, where populations are often remotely located with poor internet access, NACDD will work with Inquisit Health to deliver a telephone version of the curriculum. NACDD’s goal in the first year of funding is to enroll 1,000 participants across the four states. For more information, please contact NACDD’s 1705-lead, Ali Jaglowski.