Block by Block: Neighborhood Cohesion, Activism and the Fight Against Diabetes

The growing prevalence of Type 2 diabetes in the US has been well documented. It is estimated that the direct medical care costs per person per year with diabetes is 2.3 times higher than for the person without diabetes. Local survey data showed that North Lawndale, a poor African-American community and Humboldt Park, a poor Hispanic community had the highest diabetes rates in Chicago. The Sinai Urban Health Institute, in partnership with Rush University Medical Center and neighborhood leaders in the two Westside Chicago communities, has received $3 million in NIH funding to address individual and community issues related to inequalities in diabetes. Employing well-trained community health workers the interventions aim to improve diabetes self-management in selected areas of each community one block at a time. HbA1C has come to be used as a measure of diabetes management, self-care and risk for development of diabetes complications. It has been estimated that at least a one percent change in A1C levels can lead to significant healthcare cost savings. A primary outcome for both studies is a mean reduction A1C levels of 0.5. This presentation offers attendees insight into the distinctive social, economic and public health inequities leading to diabetes in the two Westside Chicago communities. It describes the processes for neighborhood coalition building and community-based participatory research as it relates to these unique populations separated merely by train tracks. Lastly it will highlight the scope of the interventions, their current stages and data from community surveys and outreach to nearly 23,000 community residents.