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To successfully implement
the National DPP lifestyle change program,
your organization needs the right staff and resources.
As Program Coordinator, your responsibilities include
overseeing daily operations; making sure the program meets
the quality performance outcomes of
the Diabetes Prevention Recognition Program, or DPRP;
disseminating information and guidance across all networks;
keeping your staff up-to-date on CDC communications; and
performing other functions, such as publicity and marketing.
You also have a key role in ensuring that your organization
is fully ready to offer the program, including
completing the Organizational Capacity Assessment and
providing training for Lifestyle Coaches and other staff,
such as the data preparer.
Lifestyle Coaches are on the front lines
delivering your lifestyle change program.
And while Lifestyle Coaches are sometimes health professionals,
they do not have to be.
Lay health workers, such as community health workers or
promotoras and health educators may also serve in this role.
All Lifestyle Coaches must be trained to use
a CDC-approved curriculum. But this is only the starting point.
You will need to provide coaches with ongoing support
and guidance, especially if they are new.
This could include mentoring
or offering additional skills-based training.
Have regular discussions and performance reviews
with your staff to evaluate how things are going
and address any issues they might have.
The way that we evaluate our Lifestyle Coaches
is we do have a master trainer that is available
to act as a mentor, especially for our new Lifestyle Coaches,
but also we evaluate their participant logs
that they turn in every single week,
just making sure that they're meeting the requirements
in terms of capturing all of
the data elements that are required,
because that's such an important aspect of this program,
and that our master trainer does go out and does evaluation
to make sure that we're covering the appropriate content
of the [National] DPP and that they're using
proper motivational interviewing techniques and just
really interacting with our participants as they should.
Lifestyle Coaches also collect critical
weight and physical activity data.
If possible, you may want to add a specific data preparer
to your staff to record and submit these data.
In larger organizations, roles can be divided
among different staff members, and in smaller organizations
a single person may handle every role.
Always align your staffing with the goals and strategies
of the lifestyle change program
and your organization's capabilities.
For instance, you may need staff with specific expertise,
such as speaking another language.
MIRIAM: As part of the training
for our Lifestyle Coaches, you know,
they're expected to meet people where they are
and to just listen to the information
that they're sharing in a nonjudgmental way.
We treat all of our members with dignity and respect.
Unfortunately, we do not have a session that is all in Spanish.
We just have not had that demand just yet,
but we do have Lifestyle Coaches that are bilingual.
And so if that need ever arises,
if we ever get a critical mass of members who would prefer
for the [National] DPP to be provided in Spanish, we could.
CDC offers approved curricula in Spanish,
should your organization need it.
As a program coordinator, you must have
a complete understanding of the requirements
for achieving and maintaining full CDC recognition
described in the Diabetes Prevention Recognition Program's
Standards and Operating Procedures, or DPRP Standards.
It is important for the staff to understand
what the DPRP Standards are, because as they are out
working in the field with participants,
they're able to reinforce what those important standards are.
And also, they're able to let the members
or the participants know why they are important.
Before you apply for CDC recognition, you should also
encourage your staff to carefully read the DPRP
Standards and understand their roles and responsibilities.
Using the resources on the CDC National DPP website
will help with this, especially the technical assistance video
on the Organizational Capacity Assessment,
which will help you identify your organization's
strengths and weaknesses and pinpoint any areas
that need to be addressed before you start your program.
MIRIAM: So the CDC capacity tool helped us
address key questions that the organization needs to answer to
figure out whether or not this is something that we can do.
So do you have leadership support?
So that was one of the first questions
on the capacity assessment that let us know
that that's really important, because you have to have
the support of your leadership for anything to be successful.
Also, do you have the logistical capacity?
Do you have the capacity to identify people who are at risk?
We have HealthConnect, which is our electronic medical record.
And so that helps us really easily identify
people who are at risk.
So we knew very early on what our demand would be.
We knew how many members we had who were at risk.
While the Program Coordinator has many roles to play,
CDC is available to help you every step of the way
as you deliver your lifestyle change program.
Be sure you and your staff participate
in all relevant CDC webinars, including the ones
for new organizations and for data entry and submission.
To learn more about organizational infrastructure
and what else it takes to make your
National DPP lifestyle change program a success,
watch the rest of the Program Coordinator series,
and visit CDC's National DPP website.
If you have any questions, just send an email to:
D-P-R-P Ask at C-D-C-dot-gov.
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Before you make the commitment to offer
the CDC National Diabetes Prevention Program's
lifestyle change program,
view the organizational capacity technical assistance video,
and complete the Organizational Capacity Assessment
on the National DPP website.
This will help you decide whether your organization
has the necessary staff, support, and resources
to begin offering the program.
Make sure all aspects of the program,
such as scheduling classes and collecting and submitting data,
adhere to the Diabetes Prevention Recognition Program's
Standards and Operating Procedures, or DPRP Standards.
Review and discuss the Standards with your staff,
answer any questions they may have,
and confirm their commitment to the program.
It's very important for all staff
to understand the DPRP Standards so that
when they are facilitating classes for the participants,
they understand what are the key components of the class
so they can reinforce to the participants
the importance of attending class.
And also they're able to let the members
or the participants know why they are important.
They need to make sure so that we make sure
that we check off all of the appropriate boxes
in terms of recording participant weight
and also recording the minutes of exercise or activity
each week, which are very important for us to capture.
HOST: Once your organization has everything in place,
and you've been granted CDC recognition,
you can begin offering classes.
Keep in mind that your organization's effective date --
the first day of the month following your approval --
is used to determine the due dates
for your required data submissions.
As Program Coordinator, you're responsible for working with
your staff to develop a master schedule of all the classes,
including dates, times, and locations.
Be sure you have a plan for delivering
regular and make-up sessions.
There are many tools that can help with this.
Miriam explains what her program uses.
So another aspect that we use or another tool
that we use is Outlook Groups, which is a web-based app
that all of our [National] DPP Lifestyle Coaches are connected
via that so they're able to communicate
with each other on their smartphones.
We're able to use that not only to address logistical issues
but also to share pertinent information
about the [National] Diabetes Prevention Program.
Of course, before you can have classes,
you need to recruit eligible participants.
Eligibility criteria are included in the DPRP Standards.
Participating in a community- sponsored screening event
or speaking at a health fair is a great way to recruit.
Another useful method is to hold an introductory class
before the first session, referred to as Session Zero, to
explain the program and screen participants for eligibility.
You can learn more about these sessions
in the Program Coordinator video "Recruitment and Retention."
Lifestyle Coaches lead the sessions.
You should provide them with ongoing support and training
on topics such as motivational interviewing.
This is a participant-centered approach to behavior change
which helps encourage participants
to reach their individual goals.
Additional training, it's really important for us
to provide additional training and education opportunities
for our Lifestyle Coaches.
One thing that we do is we bring our Lifestyle Coaches
back to our regional office twice a year,
and we just do a lot of roleplaying;
we do updates in terms of just
the day-to-day operations of the [National] DPP.
But it's an opportunity to create
camaraderie among the group.
It's an opportunity for them to learn about
best practices from each other.
You need to help Lifestyle Coaches set up their classes,
but this is only the first step.
You should also schedule post-data reviews
with your Lifestyle Coaches to evaluate the required weight
and physical activity data they collect from participants.
This will help both you and your Lifestyle Coaches
to work together to identify areas that need improvement.
We work with the Lifestyle Coaches
to track the progress of the participants
by again ensuring that those participant logs
are filled out thoroughly and completely every single week.
Because it is a lot of data to manage,
we want to make sure that there is diligence
to collecting that information on a regular basis.
HOST: Program Coordinators also serve a key role in
working with Lifestyle Coaches on attendance requirements.
The DPRP Standards require that at least 16 weekly sessions
be offered during the first six months, and at least
six monthly sessions during the second six months.
You should work together with your Lifestyle Coaches
to find the best ways to encourage participants to
remain in the lifestyle change program for the entire
12 months, and to complete the required 22 sessions.
If you are able to add more sessions,
especially during the transition from
weekly to monthly sessions in the second six months,
participant attendance may increase.
Additional sessions must use a module
from a CDC-approved curriculum.
Curriculum modules may be repeated for this purpose.
Unexpected circumstances, such as bad weather,
can get in the way of attendance.
However, you can prepare for this.
Have a plan for communicating scheduling updates.
And remember, offering make-up sessions is very important
when classes must be cancelled.
From having the right staff and resources
to advanced planning for make-up classes,
setting up your program is crucial to its success,
and CDC is always available to help you do it.
To learn more, watch the rest of the Program Coordinator series
and visit CDC's National DPP website.
If you have any questions, just send an email to:
D-P-R-P Ask at C-D-C-dot-gov.
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Participants are the main focus
of the National Diabetes Prevention Program's
lifestyle change program.
As a program coordinator, recruiting and
retaining participants are two of your most important roles.
There are many ways you can recruit participants,
such as collaborating and building partnerships with
physician practices, pharmacies, and other health care groups.
So physician buy-in, having the physicians go out
and speak to other physicians about the [National] DPP
and about the importance of it and about
the different resources that are available has been
really, really important for getting our physicians to feel
confident in referring their patients to the [National] DPP.
You can also work with employers and insurers
and encourage them to include the lifestyle change program
as a covered benefit.
In addition, you should include other local community partners
as part of your referral network, such as senior centers,
faith-based organizations, and other social service agencies.
Peer recruiting and word-of-mouth,
along with targeted efforts such as
recruiting at testing and screening events
for type 2 diabetes, can be highly effective.
I mean, we do such targeted outreach.
I think our numbers show that, you know,
we have over 80 percent of our participants have A1C,
have a lab-confirmed blood test.
And I think that targeted communication
really plays a role in helping people who are motivated
really respond to that call to action.
So we have a lot of motivated people who decide to sign up
and participate in the [National] DPP,
and I think that's a really key first step by
making sure we reach those folks who really need the program
who are most appropriate for the program.
Lifestyle Coaches, who lead your program's classes, are
the ones who keep participants motivated and coming back.
To do this, they need to be motivated by you,
the Program Coordinator.
As Program Coordinator,
I think my most important role is ensuring that
the Lifestyle Coaches remain motivated and aware.
We want to make sure that they don't lose their steam,
because the [National] DPP is a year-long commitment.
And so they have to remain motivated and enthusiastic
about the program because in turn
they help our members maintain that motivation
to successfully complete the program.
Lifestyle Coaches also need ongoing support and training
to build their skills.
Motivated and skilled Lifestyle Coaches can improve
program attendance and help participants reach their goals.
Find ways to help Lifestyle Coaches rally participants
to work together as a team to meet program goals.
Lifestyle Coaches may find it challenging
to keep participants engaged for the full 12 months.
As program coordinator, you can help them
find new ways to engage participants.
Schedule activities outside of regular sessions such as dance
classes, grocery tours, or healthy cooking demonstrations.
It's my job or my responsibility
to make sure that I'm accessible to hearing
what the different challenges they may face
as Lifestyle Coaches and really work with them
and communicate and create a sense
of community amongst the Lifestyle Coaches
so that we can all work together to learn about best practices,
figure out how we address challenges, and again
remain enthusiastic and motivated around this program.
Your role as a program coordinator is integral
to the success of your staff, your participants,
and your lifestyle change program.
Recruiting participants and keeping them coming back
takes work, but with enthusiasm, motivation,
and help from CDC, you can do it.
To learn more, visit CDC's National DPP website,
or refer back to any of the videos
in the program coordinator series.
If you have any questions, just send an email to:
D-P-R-P Ask at C-D-C-dot-gov.
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