Every Diabetic Counts Program and Mississippi Health First: Models for community collaboration and health education in underserved communities

Background: To reduce disparities in diabetes outcomes, CMS initiated the Every Diabetic Counts (EDC) Program and Mississippi Health First (MHF) programs. EDC has been underway since August 6, 2008. MHF began in November, 2009, and in September, 2010 the disparity reduction project was expanded into TX. This proposed session will discuss the successful partnership and recruitment methods used in each community to reach out to the underserved senior population with diabetes. Method: EDC sites partnered with local physicians and community organizations to hold diabetes self-management education (DSME) classes for underserved African American, Latino, and Hispanic Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes. EDC utilizes the Diabetes Education and Empowerment Program (DEEP) or the Stanford Chronic Disease Self-Management Program curriculum. MHF utilizes the DSME curriculum Project Dulce. MHF includes partnerships with federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and rural health centers and interventions focused on uninsured, underinsured, and Medicaid recipients, regardless of age. Results: From December 2008 – July 2010, 5,913 underserved Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes completed all EDC classes, and 1,209 community organizations provided space for classes and helped to publicize the program. The MHF project has added over 1,600 individuals with diabetes. Conclusion: This community-based approach to diabetes self-management education has been very successful in terms of beneficiary participation and improving participants' basic knowledge of diabetes. Providing direct education where individuals reside can reduce barriers of transportation, fear of leaving their home, weather, etc is not an issue.