The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a $650 million initiative to create healthful lifestyle habits by increasing physical activity, improving nutrition, and decreasing obesity and smoking. As part of this initiative, communities and tribes are able to apply for $373 million in cooperative agreements for the comprehensive public health initiative, Communities Putting Prevention to Work, to be led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This funding will be awarded to communities to support evidence-based prevention strategies for youth and adults and will promote partnerships across communities and sectors.

To learn more about the initiative, visit the HHS Recovery Programs webpage. For grant information, visit www.grants.gov. The application deadline for community projects is December 1, 2009.

Griffin Rodgers, M.D., M.A.C.P., director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health recently discussed the risk factors for type 2 diabetes on NIH Radio. During the interview, Dr. Rodgers discussed pre-diabetes and family history as a risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes. He also emphasized the importance of people knowing whether diabetes runs in their family and of discussing this risk with their health care professional.

Click here to listen to the interview.

We’ve just added searches by keyword and category to the NDEP publications webpage. Click on “View Publications by Keyword” on the left side of the Publications webpage for a list of common search terms. Choose a term and you will be directed to a list of applicable NDEP publications. Also, on the left side of the page is a list of common publications categories, including “I Have Diabetes,” “Am I at Risk?,” and “Health Care Professionals.” Select these topics to find applicable publications.

Important Note: Please Update Your NDEP Links
If you currently link to any of NDEP’s resources or web pages on your website, your links need to be updated in order to connect you to NDEP’s redesigned website. Please check any existing links to the NDEP website and update as necessary. Contact your organization’s webmaster for more information.

The Summer 2009 issue of Diabetes Spectrum includes an article describing the results of NDEP’s 2006 survey exploring perceptions of diabetes risk factors and authored by NDEP-NIH Director Joanne Gallivan, M.S., R.D., Clarice Brown, M.S., Rachel Greenberg, M.A., and Charles M. Clark, Jr., M.D.

“Predictors of Perceived Risk of the Development of Diabetes” outlines NDEP’s survey methods and results. The survey was conducted to identify perceptions of risk for diabetes among people without a diagnosis of diabetes. The survey revealed that more than half of the U.S. population ages 45 and older had one or more risk factors for diabetes, but only about one-fourth felt they were at risk for the disease. Additionally, African Americans were less likely to feel at risk for diabetes compared to non-Hispanic whites.

The authors concluded that NDEP needs to focus on reaching older adults and African Americans who report low levels of self-perceived risk of diabetes, and increase their awareness of diabetes risk by emphasizing family history, obesity, and diagnoses of pre-diabetes.

Nick Jonas, of the award-winning band The Jonas Brothers, spoke about living with type 1 diabetes, and the importance of raising diabetes awareness and motivating young people to better manage their disease at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on August 24.

Prior to the event, Nick posed with Griffin Rodgers, M.D., M.A.C.P., director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, and NDEP-NIH Director Joanne Gallivan, M.S., R.D. Nick and Dr. Rodgers had also met in June, when they testified before Congress along with Mary Tyler Moore and Sugar Ray Leonard to communicate the importance of diabetes research. They urged Congress to renew funding for the Special Diabetes Program, a federally-funded diabetes research program. Mary Tyler Moore, actress and International Chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, has had type 1 diabetes for many years. World champion boxer Sugar Ray Leonard’s father has struggled with diabetes.

Earlier this year, The Jonas Brothers and their mother, Denise Jonas, teamed up with NDEP to appeal to young people with diabetes and their families to promote diabetes control in two print and two radio public service announcements (PSAs). The PSAs highlight NDEP as a resource.

The copyright-free print PSAs can be downloaded and added to any newsletter or publication, and reprinted with your organization’s logo*. Please note that permission to use the print PSAs expires June 1, 2010. The 30- and 60-second radio PSAs can be downloaded and distributed to your local radio stations. Permission to use the radio PSAs expires March 31, 2010.

NDEP is currently promoting a diabetes prevention message addressing the threat of diabetes among a high-risk population using a new feature article entitled, “American Indians & Alaska Natives: You Have the Power to Prevent Diabetes; The Research Says So!*” to American Indian and Alaska Native print and online publications. The article includes a quote from Charlene Avery, M.D., chair of the American Indian and Alaska Native Work Group, and provides tips on how to become more physically active, make healthy food choices, and set goals to prevent type 2 diabetes. For more tips for American Indians and Alaska Natives on preventing type 2 diabetes, read NDEP’s We Have the Power to Prevent Diabetes tip sheet.

NDEP encourages you to promote the feature article to local media and to your partners. For example, add your organization’s logo*, name, mission, and contact information to highlight how you and NDEP are working together. Then submit the article to your local newspaper or promote it in your organization’s newsletter.

Updated resources on Novel H1N1 (Swine) Flu and diabetes can be found on CDC’s website. These resources include general information for people with diabetes and those who care for them, H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccination guidelines, recommendations for schools and businesses, sick day rules for people with diabetes, antiviral medication guidelines, and everyday steps to protect one’s health. The resources on the website are updated weekly.

For more flu information, visit the Flu.gov Frequent Questions webpage or the CDC H1N1 webpage.

In November, NDEP will distribute a new feature article titled “Managing Diabetes: It’s Not Easy, But It’s Worth It*” to general print and online publications to highlight the refreshed Control Your Diabetes. For Life. campaign messages. See the first article in this newsletter for more information and visit the NDEP website for more campaign tools.

In December, NDEP will distribute a new feature article highlighting a recipe that people with diabetes and their families can enjoy, to general print and online publications. For more healthy recipes, read NDEP’s Más que comida, es vida.* (It's more than food. It's Life.*) booklet.

In each issue of NEWS & NOTES look for NDEP promotional tools that are ready for you to personalize, customize, and distribute. For example, use our printer-ready public service announcements to make diabetes posters for upcoming events, health fairs, or your office. Use our customizable campaign resources to promote diabetes awareness in your community. Or take our feature articles, press releases and media advisories, and public service announcements, and add your organization’s logo*.

By using our promotional tools, everybody wins. Your community newspaper receives a story with important health information for its readers, your organization receives good publicity, and you help NDEP continue to be the nation’s No. 1 resource for free information and materials on diabetes control and prevention. Each issue of NEWS & NOTES features resources that tie into the following month’s promotions and can help us promote NDEP together.

Stop by and visit NDEP at the following upcoming exhibits and presentations:

• IX Binational Policy Forum on Migration and Health
  October 5-7, 2009, Santa Fe, NM
  Betsy Rodriguez, M.S.N., C.D.E. will present “Diabetes: Treatment Challenges and Opportunities”/ “Diabetes: Retos y oportunidades para su tratamiento” and highlight NDEP materials. This presentation will be on October 6 at 1:30 p.m.
• 5th Annual Asian American Health Conference
  October 8-9, 2009, New York, NY
  Join Fahina Tavake-Pasi, chair of the Asian American and Pacific Islander Work Group, in the exhibit area as she displays and promotes NDEP’s “Capacity Building for Diabetes Outreach Toolkit” for organizations serving Asian American and Pacific Islander populations.
• American Academy of Family Physicians Annual Scientific Assembly
  October 14-17, 2009, Boston, MA
• American Dietetic Association Food & Nutrition Conference and Expo 2009
  October 17-20, 2009, Denver, CO
  Ann Albright, Ph.D., R.D. and Joanne Gallivan, M.S., R.D. will present on October 20 at 9:45 a.m. during a session entitled, “Navigating the Changing Landscape of Diabetes: Clinical Implications and Resources to Help.”
• American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference & Exhibition
  October 17-20, 2009, Washington, D.C.
• International Diabetes Federation 20th World Diabetes Congress
  October 18-22, 2009, Montreal, Canada
  Join Joanne Gallivan, M.S., R.D. for a poster session entitled, “Diabetes Prevention and Control: Public Education Initiatives in the U.S.” on October 21 at 12:00 p.m. Betsy Rodriguez, M.S.N., C.D.E. will present on lessons learned while working with lay health workers to develop NDEP’s The Road to Health Toolkit during a session entitled, “The Role of Lay Health Workers on Primary Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes." This presentation will be on October 22 at 8:30 a.m.
• American Public Health Association 137th Annual Meeting
  November 11-17, 2009, Philadelphia, PA
  Betsy Rodriguez, M.S.N., C.D.E. and Claire McCarty will present during a session entitled, "Lessons Learned in the Development of a Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Train-the-Trainer Toolkit for Community Health Workers." This presentation will be on Tuesday, November 10 at 12:30 p.m. Michelle D. Owens-Gary, Ph.D., Quanza Brooks-Griffin, M.P.A., and Anna Taylor Ellis will present a case study on issues associated with diabetes and depression for women, and will describe materials on mental health developed by NDEP. This presentation will be on November 10 at 10:30 a.m. Judith A. McDivitt, Ph.D. will give a presentation entitled, “Addressing Diabetes in Multi-cultural Audiences: Examples from the National Diabetes Education Program” on November 10 at 3:00 p.m.
• American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2009
  November 14-18, 2009, Orlando, FL