Recognizing National Diabetes Awareness Month

Kristie Kulinski, Aging Services Program Specialist

Diabetes is among the most common chronic diseases experienced by older adults. More than 30 million Americans have diabetes. That's 9.4% of the U.S. population. This figure increases with age, with diabetes affecting 25.2% of adults 65 and older, according to the CDC's 2017 National Diabetes Statistics Report.

Through its Chronic Disease Self-Management Education (CDSME) grant initiative, ACL supports the delivery of proven health promotion programs targeting chronic conditions like diabetes. Since 2010, more than 400,000 people have participated in CDSME programs, with approximately 33% indicating a diabetes diagnosis. Almost 92,000 of these participants took part in either the Diabetes Self-Management Program (DSMP) or its Spanish language counterpart, Programa de Manejo Personal de la Diabetes.

ACL grantees are reaching older adults and making an impact every day through these CDSME programs. Take the Health Foundation of South Florida, for example, which has offered the DSMP and Programa de Manejo Personal de la Diabetes for more than a decade. Programs take place in senior centers, YMCA’s, parks and recreation centers, libraries, churches, hospitals, and clinics throughout South Florida. Since September 2015, they have reached 2,700 Floridians, and 81% of them have successfully completed the program.

In another part of the country, the Rhode Island Department of Health has offered DSMP, Programa de Manejo Personal de la Diabetes, and other CDSME programs in senior centers, health centers, libraries, and beyond. Programs are situated in health equity zones—areas where low economic status, substandard education, and lack of opportunities for employment or housing are being addressed.

Learn more about how ACL is helping to address diabetes through its CDSME Programs.