Do You cAARd?

succcess story post thubnail

Submission Date: December 2013

State/Territory Submitted on the Behalf of: California

States/Territories Involved: California

Domain Addressed:

Environmental Approaches

Public Health Issue:

  • Smoking raises blood sugar and reduces the body’s ability to use insulin, making it more difficult to control diabetes.
  • Tobacco cessation and other lifestyle changes can reduce the costly complications of diabetes such as heart attack, amputations and blindness.
  • Tobacco quit lines are a proven strategy for reducing tobacco use.

Program Action:

  • A statewide task force of certified diabetes educators developed “Do You cAARd?” a campaign that’s part of a tobacco project of the California Department of Health Services Diabetes Program and Tobacco Control Section and the California Smokers’ Helpline.
  • The campaign goal is increasing the frequency with which diabetes educators and other health care providers ask about the smoking status of people with diabetes, advise them to quit and refer them to the free Smokers’ Helpline (Ask-Advise-Refer)
  • Campaign strategies include: helping providers incorporate the Ask-Advise-Refer method into their practice; incorporating a diabetes-specific screening question in the Helpline caller intake; providing education for diabetes educators; training Helpline counselors and diabetes program staff; supplying free campaign materials and campaign outreach.

Impact/Accomplishments:

  • Reached & trained about 17% of diabetes educators in the state; over 300 health professionals completed exams to obtain professional credit for the training
  • More than tripled website visits over 2 years and downloads of the “Do You cAARd?” toolkit
  • Had an impact on the California Smokers’ Helpline which includes:- Increase in both number and percentage of callers with diabetes over 2 years- Increase in the percentage of callers with diabetes who were referred by a clinic or provider

    -Increase in the percentage of diabetes educators referring patients to Helpline

    – Increase in the percentage of diabetes educators with knowledge of the 1-800 Helpline number

Primary web link for more information:
http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/pdf/PublicHealthCompedium.pdf
Program Areas:

Diabetes, Tobacco

State Contact Information:

CA
Shirley Shelton
California Department of Health Services
916-552-9942
Shirley.shelton@cdph.ca.gov

<< Back to All Success Stories