Minnesota Diabetes & Heart Health Collaborative

Submission Date: December 2014

State/Territory Submitted on the Behalf of: Minnesota

States/Territories Involved: Minnesota

Domain Addressed:

Community-Clinical Linkages

Public Health Issue:

Diabetes is the leading cause of adult blindness, end-stage kidney disease, and foot/leg amputations; it also increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Yet public awareness about these complications is low and many people with diabetes aren’t fully aware of what they can do to control their diabetes and prevent complications.

Developing and promoting culturally- and literacy-appropriate diabetes materials and education campaigns helps practitioners and programs effectively reach and engage people with diabetes to improve health outcomes.

Program Action:

The Minnesota Diabetes & Heart Health Collaborative (MN-DC) formed in 2000 to improve the quality of messages about diabetes and advance best practices to support healthy behaviors – all at little or no cost.

Because diabetes messaging lacked consistency and varied in use of appropriate language and literacy levels they created common messages using evidence-based resources, disseminating them through the existing channels of MN-DC members and the MN-DC website.

The MN-DC conducts tailored campaigns with other organizations to extend reach and impact. For example, with the Minnesota Ophthalmology Association the group targeted seniors in need of diabetic eye exams, a Medicare-covered benefit. The MN-DC’s current focus is to expand Control Your Diabetes for Life, their award-winning health literacy patient education tool set used in community and clinical settings. This free, online tool set informs people what they need to know or do to take care of themselves and why it is important. The set includes behavior change tips and each topic contains a goal setting worksheet.

Impact/Accomplishments:

The MN-DC’s messages can reach:

• 85% of Minnesotans with diabetes
• 90% of health care providers, including most primary care providers
• All 72 local public health agencies
• Over 400 senior centers
• Most parish and home health nurses and community health workers
• A growing number of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, pharmacies and dental offices

The original health literacy printed materials (i.e. a flip chart) are being used by nearly 1,000 lay and professional health educators in many settings, including federally qualified health centers, assisted living facilities and home health nurses. The website sees 100-250 downloads per month.

A survey of 50 users of the Control Your Diabetes for Life health literacy flip chart gave a satisfaction rate of 95%.

With the exception of the printed flip chart, all materials and messages were produced and delivered at no cost. By leveraging existing resources, the MN-DC has operated with no budget for most of its 13 years.

Program Areas:

Heart Disease and Stroke

State Contact Information:

MN
Laurel Reger, MBA
Minnesota Department of Health
651-201-5434
laurel.reger@state.mn.us

<< Back to All Success Stories