Outreach
The Harold Hamm Diabetes Center’s (HHDC) statewide outreach efforts focus on the underserved and underinsured, as well as promoting access to preventive health care for everyone at risk of diabetes and/or its complications. Programs like “Know Your Numbers,” as well as numerous educational events and seminars, provide our community with access to information and care. Through strategically developed community partnerships, the HHDC is able to play an active role in implementing activities benefiting all people affected by diabetes in Oklahoma.
Know Your Numbers
The HHDC serves as Oklahoma’s leader in fighting the diabetes epidemic. To spread its message, the HHDC is taking its early-intervention campaign, called Know Your Numbers, into communities around the state. Blue Cross and Blue Shield provided inaugural-year funding for the program, which invites people to have their blood sugar, cholesterol and other numbers checked. HHDC staff and researchers then give participants the tools to prevent and treat diabetes through immediate healthcare intervention and long-term tracking to monitor risk factors. According to the state Health Department, more than 10 percent of Oklahomans have been diagnosed with diabetes, and one in three Oklahomans are at risk for developing the disease – one of the highest diabetes rates in the country. That makes programs like “Know Your Numbers” essential to improving the health and well being in our state. Learn more…
Programs for Preventive Health
Outreach efforts extend to collaborative partnerships developed with other state and local organizations as well as non-profits interested in health promotion for children and adolescents. Programs for Preventive Health (within the Harold Hamm Diabetes Center Pediatric Program) work closely with many agencies to evaluate the impact of their health programs. Under the direction of Dr. Steve Sternlof, an assistant professor in research and licensed psychologist, program evaluations are conducted to determine the changes that occur as a result of health promotion programs being initiated in schools and communities across Oklahoma by these agencies. Programs for Preventive Health also work closely with public school districts that are implementing evidence based programs designed to change lifestyle behaviors and promote overall health as well as teaching courses and conducting trainings at several universities on applied research and preventive health.