Welcome to the National Diabetes Prevention Program Organizational Capacity Assessment
Webinar, brought to you by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's
Diabetes Prevention Recognition Program, or DPRP. Benefits of Completing the Capacity Assessment.
The Organizational Capacity Assessment is an important tool for determining an
organization's readiness to apply for CDC recognition. Whether you are a new organization
interested in applying for CDC recognition or an already CDC-recognized organization,
assessing your organization's capacity will help identify areas that may need to be enhanced to
ensure you are able to successfully deliver the year-long lifestyle change program with
quality and fidelity to the evidence-based DPRP Standards and sustain the program long term.
Sustainable lifestyle change programs are those that have the capacity to implement
the National DPP lifestyle change program over time without federal, state, or local government
or other non-governmental grant dollars. Completion of the Organizational Capacity Assessment is
required for organizations participating as subsidiaries in umbrella arrangements.
How to Use the Assessment. The assessment is designed as a series of questions that
are grouped by topic. As you read each question, you will check the box that corresponds to your answer:
yes, no, unsure, or N/A for not applicable.
Potential organizations are instructed to total the number of "yes," "no," "unsure," and "N/A" responses
at the bottom of the questionnaire. If the total number of "no" and "unsure" responses outnumber
the "yes" responses, the organization should wait before applying for CDC recognition.
However, organizations should work on all areas without a "yes" since all are important
for successfully delivering the program. Because many of you represent organizations that are
already recognized, we would ask you to see these as areas that require some attention.
Let's talk through the questions. DPRP Standards. The first question on the assessment simply asks
if your organization's staff has read the DPRP Standards and Operating Procedures.
The DPRP Standards is the single-most important document that any organization seeking or
maintaining CDC recognition should be familiar with. Everything an organization needs to know
about the National DPP lifestyle change program, and what it takes to become fully recognized,
is found in the Standards. The Standards provide detailed guidance on assessing organizational
capacity, applying to the program, addressing curriculum and staffing requirements, collecting
and submitting data, understanding the recognition process, and accessing technical assistance.
Leadership and Staff Support. Does your organization's leadership,
as well as a Program Coordinator, Lifestyle Coaches, and Data Preparer or manager, support your
CDC recognition and your efforts to deliver the program? If you are applying for CDC recognition,
do you have appropriate staff in place, such as a program coordinator, trained Lifestyle Coaches,
and data preparer, per the criteria outlined in the DPRP Standards?
Staff. Staffing requirements and responsibilities are listed in the Appendix of the DPRP Standards.
The Capacity Assessment explores if your organization has hired or plans to hire a
Program Coordinator, Lifestyle Coaches and a Data Preparer with the knowledge, skills, and
abilities listed in the guidance document in the Appendix of the DPRP Standards, entitled,
Staffing Guidelines, Roles, and Responsibilities and Sample Position Descriptions.
Program Coordinators should supervise daily operations of the lifestyle change program
and should provide guidance and support for the Lifestyle Coaches.
All Lifestyle Coaches must be trained to the specific curriculum being used
by the recognized organization before offering the first class.
The recommended [minimum] length of formal training for new Lifestyle Coaches is at least 12 hours or two days.
Formal training is defined as training conducted by one of the four following entities:
1) A training entity that has a Memorandum of Understanding with CDC and is listed
on the CDC website, 2) A private organization with a national network of program sites,
3) A CDC-recognized virtual organization with national reach, or 4) A Master Trainer who has
completed at least 12 hours of formal training as a Lifestyle Coach, has successfully offered
the National DPP lifestyle change program for at least one year, and has completed a Master Trainer
program offered by a training entity listed on the National DPP Customer Service Center.
Staff Training. It is required in the DPRP Standards that Lifestyle Coaches receive minimally
12 hours of training on the use of a CDC-approved curriculum for teaching the year-long National DPP
lifestyle change program. All Lifestyle Coaches and Program Coordinators must complete at least
two hours of Advanced Coach Training each year from an approved training entity to build on
the foundational skills necessary for helping participants make effective lifestyle change.
It's also highly recommended that program coordinators receive training on data collection
and interpretation of participants' outcomes to effectively monitor their progress toward
meeting program goals. CDC does offer sponsored webinar trainings on specialized topics such as
program delivery and data submission. Organizations should have appropriate staff view these webinars
which are housed on the National DPP's Customer Service Center web page.
These trainings are updated with each new revision of the DPRP Standards every three years.
Staff Training (continued.) Organizations are responsible for providing training to comply
with federal, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA, state
and/or local laws governing the protection of Personally Identifiable Information or PII data,
as CDC does not permit the transmission of PII.
All Lifestyle Coaches and Program Coordinators should receive additional training each time
CDC receives the DPRP Standards, and CDC will offer such training at no cost to organizations.
DPRP Evaluation Data Collection and Submission.
Does your organization have staff with the knowledge, skills, and tools needed to collect, enter,
monitor, and submit the required DPRP evaluation data elements
using the CDC DPRP Data Portal through SAMS? If not, make sure staff is registered for SAMS
and trained in a basic understanding of completing a CSV spreadsheet template with data elements.
If you answered "No" or "Unsure" about whether your key lifestyle change program staff
have the ability to collect and submit evaluation data to CDC, you might make a plan for training a
designated staff member who will be responsible for collecting, entering, monitoring, and submitting
the data, or consider contracting an external organization (i.e., a third-party data administrator),
although the Lifestyle Coach or Program Coordinator will collect the participant's data.
A third-party administrator, or data aggregator, will have the knowledge, skills, and tools needed
to collect, enter, and submit the required DPRP evaluation data. Your organization
will be responsible for submitting these data to the CDC DPRP every six months.
Organization Infrastructure: In-person Only Programs.
When considering the location and delivery mode for organizations offering in-person only programs,
ask yourself: Does your organization have any designated space in which to conduct the
year-long National DPP lifestyle change program? Does your organization provide private settings
in which participants can be weighed and monitored by a Lifestyle Coach? Private
weight settings are important to a participant's comfort and willingness to be weighed weekly.
A participant not wanting to be weighed in front of a Lifestyle Coach may still weigh
themselves at home and tell the coach their weight verbally or provide it to the coach in writing.
Organization Infrastructure: Online Only, Distance Learning, or Combination Programs.
When considering the location and delivery modes for online or virtual programs,
ask yourself: Does your organization have any designated space in which to
offer the in-person portion of your combination yearlong National DPP lifestyle change program?
Does your organization have appropriate equipment or a technology platform to deliver
the online or distance learning version of the yearlong National DPP lifestyle change program?
Does your organization have appropriate equipment or technology platform to allow participants
to interact with a Lifestyle Coach over the yearlong National DPP lifestyle change program?
Does your organization have the ability to obtain weights
via digital technology such as Bluetooth-enabled scales?
Does your organization have the capacity to switch to virtual program delivery
in the event of a public health emergency, national disaster, or other special circumstance?
Eligible Participants. The importance of high enrollment numbers of eligible participants,
and recruitment and enrollment concerns, are addressed in both the Capacity Assessment
and the DPRP Standards. Both are key to sustainability.
High initial enrollment numbers are essential to ensuring a minimum of five or more participants
complete the year-long lifestyle change program, as required by the DPRP Standards,
and that the organization can be evaluated for preliminary or full CDC recognition.
There is always some attrition in participation
as a year-long program progresses, so planning for this upfront is essential.
Recruitment and Enrollment. When considering program recruitment and enrollment,
does your organization have the ability to recruit and enroll
a sufficient number of eligible participants?
Does your organization have the capacity to offer at least one class, starting with
a minimum of 10 to 15 participants and ending in five or more participants, every 12 months?
Has your organization made connections with health care providers, insurers, or employee
wellness programs to help ensure referrals to your program? If you answered "No" or "Unsure"
to any of the above, consider partnering with other CDC-recognized organizations or joining
an umbrella arrangement. Sustainability. Do you have a sustainability plan for your program?
If so, does it include becoming an MDPP supplier working with private insurers or employers?
Tools and Resources. There are many resources available to help with program sustainability.
Examples of such resources are listed within the Capacity Assessment and include resources for
recruiting participants, healthcare professionals, pharmacists, employers and insurers, encouraging
participant retention, marketing to recruit and retain participants, and more. There are additional
resources on Umbrella Arrangements available on the National DPP Coverage Toolkit website.
Thank You. This concludes the Organizational Capacity Assessment Webinar.
Please visit the National DPP Customer Service Center at NationalDPPCSC.cdc.gov
for more resources and to submit any questions that you may have.
Thank you for joining with us to prevent type 2 diabetes in the U.S.