Alameda County Public Health Department, CA

Adaptive Diabetes Management and Education Program for People with Developmental Disabilities (ADMEPPDD)

Approximately 1,400,000 of adult Californians have been diagnosed with diabetes at a cost of more than $12 billion a year. Alameda County, located east of San Francisco, has a diverse population of almost 1.5 million, 60,000 of whom have Type 2 diabetes. However, Alameda County's diabetes program was aimed at the general population and did not address the learning and case management needs of people with developmental disabilities.

California's service system for people with developmental disabilities is delivered through regional centers, local nonprofit organizations under contract with the Department of Developmental Services. The Regional Center of East Bay serves around 4,100 adults in Alameda County; approximately 111 have been diagnosed with diabetes. Many of these individuals depend on direct care staff to assist them in controlling their diabetes and recognizing health problems as they arise. Many direct care staff have limited education and may not be knowledgeable about diabetes, meal planning, and recognizing potential problems associated with diabetes.

The ADMEPPDD serves individuals with developmental disabilities who reside in Alameda County and direct care staff who work with them. The program's curriculum covers the following topics:

Diabetes;
Nutrition;
Meal planning;
Medications;
Monitoring sugar;
Physical activity;
Coping with diabetes; and
Identifying potential complications.

Technical Assistance Project:

NACCHO is currently offering technical assistance support to local health departments to improve their capacity to develop or enhance health promotion programs for people living with disabilities through coordination of existing health department and community services.

Alameda County health department provided technical assistance to Jefferson County Public Health Department, WA. For more information, please visit: Jefferson County Public Health Department.

For more information on Alameda County, please contact:
Rajinder Singh
Diabetes Program
Alameda County Public Health Department
Tel: (510) 383-5191
E-mail: Rajinder.Singh@acgov.org
Web Site: www.acphd.org

Alameda County Public Health Department's Health and Disability Demonstration Site Update:

The project hired a registered dietician, with an extensive background in serving people with disabilities, to implement activities and classes on diabetes and nutrition-related issues for staff, individual consumers, and care providers.

Several outcomes of the Alameda County Adaptive Diabetes Program demonstrate its success:

A curriculum was developed for care provider training that offers credits and certification to those who participate;
More than 140 care providers were made aware of the issues of diabetes and disabilities; and
Forty-five consumers were trained and learned to make lifestyle changes.

Alameda County still employs several outreach methods, including presentations, monthly minutes and coordinator reports, an annual report, a Web site (www.acphd.org), and the continued actions of the Developmental Disabilities Council.

To sustain the program, Alameda County employed the dietician in the public health department diabetes program to enable her to include the disability community in her outreach efforts. She is also becoming a vendor with the state/local program that serves the needs of people with developmental disabilities.

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