Delivering Evidence-Led inTerventions in Arkansas to Advance Healthy Equity and Access in Diabetes Care (DELTA AHEAD) - ADCES has identified opportunity for Local Evidence-based Approaches to Diabetes Management and Type 2 Diabetes Prevention in Arkansas. Through a partnership with ARCare and Mainline Health Systems we have identified 12 high-need Arkansas counties Chicot (10,019), Craighead (112,218), Cross (16,681), Drew (17,110), Jackson (16,811), Jefferson (65,861), Lincoln (13,037), Monroe (6,683), Prairie (8,135), Pulaski (397,821), White (77,207), and Woodruff (6,116) that are home to approximately 750,000 Arkansans with some of highest diabetes prevalence rates in the nation. After a thorough assessment of the identified priority area we have developed a strong proposal titled Delivering Evidence-Led InTerventions in Arkansas to Advance Health Equity and Access in Diabetes (DELTA AHEAD). In collaboration with our partners ADCES will assess the readiness of clinics and community sites to advance diabetes care; partner with community members to identify community assets that can be leveraged to develop replicable and sustainable models of care to improve diabetes care. Models of care will incorporate SDOH screenings, participation in appropriate levels DSMES services, and connection to SDOH resources and support services. Through the activation of these systems, ADCES will seek to accredit sites for reimbursement eligibility, increasing the number of sites implementing evidence-based programs, the number of people participating in these programs, and improve health outcomes for Arkansans living with diabetes. A key area of focus will be growing the interprofessional workforce of the diabetes care team and helping to design DSMES services based on critical times in the diabetes disease process to support referral and reinforcement of diabetes self-care behaviors. ADCES has over 50 years of experience as a national association supporting diabetes care and education specialists. We have learned that local partners and community champions are essential to activate diabetes care within counties, like those of Arkansas’s Delta region. We also learned how to work alongside national partners, such as the National Center for Farmworker Health and the Black Women’s Health Imperative, to build capacity and leave lasting human endowments in local communities, when the cooperative agreement ends, and all grant funds are expended. Through our 11 years of CDC cooperative agreements, 14 years as a National Accrediting Organization for DSMES we realized that both DSMES and the National DPP have common challenges related to structural inequities, SDOH, and system/community readiness. The issues we faced in starting and sustaining CDC-recognized health behavior change programs in Arkansas Delta communities were the same issues experienced by our FQHC partners in sustaining and expanding their DSMES programs. Our goals include helping PWD access culturally relevant diabetes education and preventive resources and services to effectively self-manage their health across the diabetes spectrum of care. ADCES knows FQHCs are uniquely positioned to help PWD access primary health care, preventive care, diabetes education, and other health services to reduce the risk of or delay the onset of T2D, identify and treat coexisting conditions, and manage health needs resulting from the progression to a diabetes diagnosis. Partnering with ARCare and Mainline Health through the DELTA AHEAD project, ADCES can help achieve an increased number Diabetes Self-management education and support services, increased adaptation and tailoring of programs for priority populations, Increase screens for Social Determinants of Health, increased number of individuals screened and referred to community resources, improved self-management of diabetes in priority populations, and decrease proportion of people with diabetes who have an A1C >9%.
