Diabetes is more prevalent in Mississippi than in any other state in the country and Mississippi leads the nation in uncontrolled/ poor management of diabetes which results in greater risk of diabetic complications like kidney failure and limb amputations. At H.E.A.L. Mississippi we believe diabetes management is more than just managing HbA1C levels, it’s also managing the incidence of diabetes.
At H.E.A.L. Mississippi, we offer a variety of scientific evidence-based health programs designed to help people with diabetes properly manage their condition, reduce diabetes related complications, and also reduce the incidence of diabetes in Mississippi. Controlling diabetes and the incidence of diabetes is more than just about watching how much sugar you intake, it’s also about addressing and managing the other modifiable risk factors that could lead to diabetes like obesity, physical inactivity, stress, and poor diet. Our health programs address all these risk factors for persons of all ages.
The National Diabetes Prevention Program is a program aimed to prevent type 2 diabetes. The NDPP was created in 2010 to address the increasing burden of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes in the United States. This national effort created partnerships between public and private organizations to offer evidence-based, cost-effective interventions that help prevent type 2 diabetes in communities across the United States. The program is a yearlong group intensive that discusses various topics that will help prevent type 2 diabetes. Outcomes expected throughout the duration of the program are weight reduction, increased physical activity levels, and applicable knowledge to make healthier choices.
C.H.A.M.P.
Community Health Ambassadors for Minorities Program (C.H.A.M.P.) is a multi-level intervention that combines peer-to-peer health education among students designed to increase health literacy, disease risk awareness, healthcare system basics, reverse projected preventable chronic cardiometabolic disease trend, and decrease barriers to achieving optimal health. According to previous reports from the CDC, 1 out of 2 minorities born year 2000 and after, are projected to develop type 2 diabetes sometime during their lifespan. C.H.A.M.P was developed to intervene in these projections.
Ambassadors are selected and educated on preventable chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes, and they creatively and innovatively deliver this pertinent evidence-based disease prevention information to their peers. Health ambassadors are trained by licensed health practitioners on administering certain health screens like checking weight and height to calculate BMI, measuring body circumference to perform body fat analysis, and conducting blood pressure checks so they can perform health screening clinics at various times during school year in their community.
H.E.A.L. Kids
Healthy Eating Active Living Kids is a health program for children ages 6-14, that are at risk of developing obesity or diabetes sometime during their life span. The program is aimed at disease prevention and overall healthier living for children.
H.E.A.L. Kids provides the necessary support children need to achieve optimal health and maintain healthy lifestyles by providing effective behavior strategies, empowering them to make better choices, teaching them to learn to enjoy a healthier way of living, and motivating them to be more physically active while helping them discover what a healthier life looks like for them.