Project ECHO at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center (UNMHSC) is applying for Component B to reduce disparities in access to evidence-based diabetes prevention and management programs in rural communities. We will work with two community-based organizations, Amador Health Center and Empowerment Congress of Doña Ana county, and focus on five high-need counties on the southern border of New Mexico: Doña Ana, Eddy, Lea, Luna, and Otero. The high-need counties selected have a combined population of 449,492.
Reversing disparities in diabetes and prediabetes services will require long-term commitments to increasing access to care, building local capacity to offer evidence-based services, and building connections between health and programs addressing SDOH. Project ECHO will launch a multi-year project to serve Hispanic and Latino populations living in five high-need counties along the southern border with high rates of diabetes, poverty, and other social vulnerabilities. In partnership with community-based organizations Amador Health Center and Empowerment Congress of Doña Ana County, and in collaboration with experts at the UNM Center for Diabetes and Nutrition Education and Community Health Worker Initiatives, our approach will use the following strategies:
Strategy 1: Strengthen self-care practices by improving access, appropriateness, and feasibility of diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) services for priority populations.
Strategy 3: Prevent diabetes complications for priority populations through early detection.
Strategy 5: Increase enrollment and retention of priority populations in the National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP) lifestyle intervention and the MDPP by improving access, appropriateness, and feasibility of the programs.
Strategy 13: Improve the capacity of the diabetes workforce to address factors related to the SDOH that impact health outcomes for priority populations with and at risk for diabetes.
Throughout the project, we will measure progress toward achieving the following outcomes:
1. Increase in the number of organizations implementing evidence-based community behavioral change programs.
2. Increased adaptation/tailoring of effective programs for priority populations.
3. Increase in the # of patients screened and referred to community resources (i.e., health/mental health resources).
4. Increased SDOH screenings in clinical settings.
5. Increased participation in evidence-based community behavioral change programs.
6. Increased multi-directional communication between clinical and community resources