Help Your Senior Patients Prevent Diabetes

Looking for 10,000 seniors on Medicare to participate in a free program to prevent diabetes….

The Medicare Diabetes Screening Project recently partnered with the YMCA on a pilot project to provide scholarships to 400 seniors who qualify for the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program in four target cities: Atlanta, GA, Phoenix, AZ, and Louisville & Lexington, KY. The YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program is an evidence-based, community-based program for those who are at risk for developing type-2 diabetes to delay or prevent the onset of the disease. This year-long, classroom-based program is broken down into 16 sessions of weekly meetings, followed by a maintenance period of monthly meetings. Participants in the program focus on lifestyle changes, including but not limited to, dietary improvements and physical activity. The goal of the program is to lose 7% of body weight, which has been shown to reduce the risk of developing diabetes for people with pre-diabetes.

Last year, the Y-USA was awarded a grant from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) for $12 million over 3 years to enroll 10,000 seniors on Medicare into the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program in 17 target areas. The Y has a Board of Advisors for this initiative, made up of organizations that are actively involved in diabetes screening, prevention, education, and advocacy. The Medicare Diabetes Screening Project is one of the partners in the task to help find and refer these 10,000 seniors to the Y throughout the next couple years.

We are reaching out to the MDSP network to ask you to help support the Y’s efforts to reach 10,000 seniors on Medicare who are at risk for developing diabetes.

Below is a link with the locations, names, and contact information for the 17 YMCAs across the country that will be participating in this grant from CMMI. We are asking you, as our partners, to reach out locally to those within your organization who may be able to assist in identifying or referring seniors to the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program in their community. Your chapters or local contacts should feel free to contact their local YMCA directly. List of Locations

We appreciate any assistance you may be able to offer in this project. Together, we can help the Y reach its goal of enrolling 10,000 seniors into the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program.

For more information on the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program, please click here.