Project DIRECT (Diabetes Interventions Reaching and Educating Communities Together) is a comprehensive community-based intervention for African Americans in Southeast Raleigh, N.C. Project DIRECT strives to reduce the burden of diabetes through: The discussion will begin with presentation of a conceptual framework for Project DIRECT and will draw from the model to provide specific examples of project success. This schematic model of Project DIRECT describes each of the interventions within an overall systems framework and directly links intervention objectives to evaluation outcomes and impact. Project DIRECT’s Ready, Set Walk intervention will be described including "lessons learned" for activating and maintaining walking programs for African Americans. Evaluation data from the Ready Set Walk program will be shared to describe walking trends among participants. The Lay Exercise Leader model will be presented as a promising model for sustainable institutionalization for ongoing walking programs. Practical suggestions for implementing similar programs will be shared as well.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to: 1. Describe the conceptual framework for Project DIRECT; 2. Describe two walking programs for African Americans; and 3. Articulate practical suggestions for implementing community-based walking programs
Keywords: Diabetes, Community-Based Health Promotion
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, and Wake County Department of Health and Human Services
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: I am paid as Co-principal investigator for Project DIRECT