Sponsored by Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Diabetes is a chronic disease affecting millions of people in the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 21 million, or 7% of the total population in the U.S., have diabetes. This disease is particularly devastating to Hispanics. On average, adult Latinos are nearly twice as likely to have diabetes as non-Hispanic Whites of the same age. Specifically, two million, or 8.2%, of all Hispanics older than 20 years have diabetes.

In light of this, in 2003 the National Council of La Raza’s Institute for Hispanic Health initiated a project entitled De Casa a Casa, with support from Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The objectives of the project are to increase Hispanic public awareness of the seriousness of diabetes, its risks factors, and potential strategies for preventing the disease and to promote the importance of health education and cultural competence for the treatment of diabetes among health care providers treating Hispanic patients.

This year, the De Casa a Casa project seeks to:

• Facilitate the implementation of training sessions with members of the community, or promotores de salud, to raise awareness and increase knowledge about the dangers of diabetes and to promote positive behaviors that help to prevent and control diabetes.
• Conduct a formative assessment that will guide the development of materials on cultural competence to orient health service providers on this subject.
• Facilitate partnerships among community-based organizations, promotores de salud programs, Latino communities, and the pharmaceutical industry to promote positive health outcomes for the Hispanic community.

The De Casa a Casa project is being implemented through community-based organizations with promotores de salud in Washington, DC; Silver Spring, Maryland; Houston, Texas, Union City, California, and El Paso, Texas. Since the program was initiated, NCLR has trained 55 promotores to implement the diabetes prevention program, who have in turn reached more than 9,000 Hispanics with diabetes prevention messages. In addition, NCLR continues to provide diabetes information to the community through the NCLR Annual Conference and other materials it has developed.

With continued funding, it is NCLR’s goal to expand this diabetes educational project to other cities and to reduce the burden of this disease on Hispanics nationwide.

Related Resources

• Preventing Diabetes is a Family Affair, an op-ed by Janet Murguia, NCLR President and CEO
• Presentation of 2004 Community Outreach Results
• Mes de la Prevención de la Diabetes
• National Diabetes Fact Sheet