Dining with Diabetes – A Cooking School for Health

succcess story post thubnail

Submission Date: December 2009

State/Territory Submitted on the Behalf of: Virginia

States/Territories Involved: Virginia

Domain Addressed:

Community-Clinical Linkages

Public Health Issue:

  • Diabetes patient education is an effective strategy for preventing long-term complications from diabetes.
  • In Virginia, about half the adults with diabetes donā€™t receive the education they need to help them make the many daily decisions needed to manage their disease.
  • A Healthy People 2010 objective for the nation highlights the need to reach more people who have diabetes with formal diabetes education.

Program Action:

  • The Virginia Diabetes Prevention and Control Program implemented Dining with Diabetes, a tested program offering nutrition education and practical hands-on meal planning experience to adults with diabetes, through a contract with Virginia Cooperative Extension.
  • Implementation of the program met the Virginia Cooperative Extension mission of leading research-based education programs. It also provided the Virginia Diabetes Prevention and Control Program with baseline medical indicators to help them measure progress in meeting national diabetes objectives.
  • Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant funds supplemented limited diabetes program funds to enable implementation of the program in an initial five sites. Virginia Cooperative Extension added resources and offered the program in three more sites.
  • Participants knowledge of diabetes management practices was assessed and clinical indicators were measured.

Impact/Accomplishments:

  • Many participants implemented recommended meal planning methods and increased their daily physical activity – both of which will help them control their diabetes.
  • Over half of the participants achieved a lower A1C level which means their blood sugar was better-controlled. For every percentage point drop in this test measure the risk of eye, kidney and nerve disease is reduced by forty percent.
  • Over ten percent of participants reduced their blood pressure to an acceptable level.
  • Utilizing established partnerships with statewide organizations increased the Virginia Diabetes Prevention and Control Programā€™s ability to reach populations in need with diabetes self-management resources.

Program Areas:

Diabetes

State Contact Information:

VA
Nancy Pribble
Virginia Diabetes Prevention and Control Project
804-864-7872
Nancy.pribble@vdh.virginia.gov

<< Back to All Success Stories