Together on Diabetes effort to empower African American women to control their diabetes

The Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation’s Together on Diabetes national initiative engaged community partners working to empower African American Women to take control of their diabetes. Cross-cutting strategies included diabetes self-management education, support, community mobilization and advocacy, and access/linkage to care through community health workers. Five organizations and projects with experience and history of successfully improving outcomes for African American Women implemented these components in ways that fit their contexts. The Black Women's Health Imperative, working with clinical and faith-based partners, implemented a culturally-appropriate “Health Wise-Women” empowerment program for African American women in the District of Columbia. Whitter Street Health Center connected with African-American women living in public housing in Roxbury, MA through resident “ambassadors”. United Neighborhood Health Services implemented a comprehensive diabetes self-management program through home visits in Nashville, Tennessee. East Carolina University implemented a behaviorally centered "small changes" approach in eastern North Carolina. Universtiy of Virginia implemented a Call to Health model among rural and underserved women. In this session, selected project partners and evaluators will discuss implementation, results, and lessons learned in efforts to reduce disparities related to diabetes among African American women. A review of the cross-site evaluation will provide lessons learned across the five projects. Preliminary results show improvements in average A1c levels and reduction in the proportion of high risk participants.