Addressing Diabetes in Irwin and Ben Hill Counties - Diabetes and School Care in Georgia

Addressing Diabetes in Irwin and Ben Hill Counties

Health promotion and disease prevention
Schools

States served Georgia

Diabetes is one of the nation's most common chronic diseases and was the eighth leading cause of death in Georgia in 2001. Unfortunately, the 2000-2001 prevalence of diabetes in two rural southern Georgia counties-Ben Hill (13.2 percent) and Irwin (14.7 percent)-is more than twice that of Georgia (6.9 percent) and the United States (6.2 percent). According to a 2002 publication by the Georgia Hospital Association Research and Education Foundation, Ben Hill and Irwin Counties fall in the top 50 percent of counties in Georgia with the highest hospital admissions for uncontrolled diabetes. Considering this prevalence data, related health indicators-such as high rates of obesity and little physical activity, high poverty levels, and the racial makeup of the populations-it is clear that diabetes is a serious health issue for Ben Hill and Irwin Counties. Since these counties are medically underserved areas additional resources are critical to combat this chronic illness.
The Irwin County Board of Health, as the lead partner, proposes to work with the Ben Hill County Board of Health, Dorminy Medical Center, the Ben Hill County School System, Irwin County Hospital, the Irwin County School System, the South Central Primary Care Center, Irwin County Family Practice Associates (Dr. Howard McMahan), and the South Health District to address diabetes in these two counties. The target population will include individuals who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, with an emphasis on those who do not have insurance and/or who live in poverty; middle school children who need to develop healthy lifestyle behaviors that will lower their risk of becoming diabetic; and the general public. Given the poor health status of many people in these counties, it will be important to provide education and prevention messages to the public at large in order to reduce the incidence of diabetes.

The goals of the project will be to reduce the number of hospitalizations resulting from diabetes or diabetic complications in Irwin and Ben Hill counties by 10 percent, to increase healthy lifestyle behaviors among middle school children, and to reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes in these two counties through awareness of prevention strategies.

Services offered Grant funds will be used to hire a Nurse with a background in diabetes education as the Project Coordinator and a Secretary. The project also will contract with Dorminy Medical Center for 50 percent of a Registered Dietician. Services will include expanded educational classes for diabetics, including individual and group nutritional counseling, and community education programs for the public that will be offered to churches, senior citizen centers, the tech school, and others. The middle school component will focus on decreasing obesity, increasing physical activity, educating the students/parents about healthy lifestyles, and evaluating the school-based nutrition programs.
Results During the first year, staff will be oriented, educational classes planned, local physicians educated about the project, community education approaches planned, and contact initiated with key school personnel. Program implementation will begin the last quarter of the first year. In the second year, a joint community health fair focused on chronic disease/diabetes will be held for the general public and a 10K Steps-A-Day program initiated in both communities.

Source Rural Health Outreach Grantee Directory, 2006
Contact person Lynne D. Feldman, M.D., M.P.H.
Irwin County Board of Health
Georgia Department of Human Resources
407 W. Fourth Street
Ocilla, Georgia 31774
Phone: (229) 333-5290
E-Mail: ldfeldman@gdph.state.ga.us