Today is World Diabetes Day, a day created to keep the importance of diabetes prevention and management in the public and political spotlight. One in every four U.S. healthcare dollars is spent on individuals diagnosed with diabetes, and more than half of that expenditure is directly attributable to diabetes. An estimated 37 million people in the U.S. have type 2 diabetes, and another 96 million (more than one out of every three people) have prediabetes, meaning they are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.[i]
The urgency of preventing and managing type 2 diabetes is as applicable in correctional facilities as it is in populations in the community. Especially as there is an overrepresentation of populations that have a higher burden of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes in correctional facilities including individuals who:
- are older,
- have serious mental illness,
- have poorer physical and mental health than counterparts in the community,
- are above recommended body weight,
- have reduced access to health insurance, and
- are from racial and ethnic minority groups.
Administrators of correctional facilities are responsible for the healthcare costs for individuals in their custody who have type 2 diabetes, and the cost of managing this condition in these settings is particularly high.
Fortunately, type 2 diabetes is preventable. One evidence-based and effective strategy for preventing type 2 diabetes is the National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP) lifestyle change program. This program is a year-long evidence-based program delivered over 22 sessions using a CDC-approved curriculum. Program participants are expected to lose 5−7 percent of their weight and engage in physical activity for 150 minutes each week.[ii] The National DPP lifestyle change program can be offered in person, online, through distance learning, or a combined approach and is led by a trained lifestyle coach.[iii] The program has been proven to reduce the risk of individuals with prediabetes developing type 2 diabetes by 58 percent (71 percent for people older than age 60).[iv] Projections in other settings that compare the cost of the National DPP lifestyle change program to the costs of treating type 2 diabetes show that the program is cost-effective.[v]
HMA recently published a white paper, “Implementing the National Diabetes Prevention Program Lifestyle Change Program in Correctional Settings,” describing how the National DPP lifestyle change program can be used to achieve cost savings and better health for people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes in correctional settings. There have been two successful implementations of the National DPP lifestyle change program to date. The first is described in the study “Prevention in Prison: The Diabetes Prevention Program in a Correctional Setting,” where 47 people from a federal correctional facility participated in a modified version of the National DPP lifestyle change program. Participants who completed the program demonstrated significant reductions in their body mass index and A1C levels. Weight loss in the study was similar to what participants of the National DPP lifestyle change program in the community typically achieve.[vi]
The second successful implementation is with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC), which has successfully offered the National DPP lifestyle change program in three correctional facilities. To date, 19 Wisconsin DOC staff have trained as lifestyle coaches and 131 individuals across the three facilities have participated in the program. The Wisconsin National DPP state quality specialist shared the following cohort data in 2018−2019:
- 16 percent of the participants were Black and 84 percent were White
- 100 percent of participants were male, with an average age of 45.6 years
- 58 percent of participants were eligible for the program based on a blood test
- 100 percent of participants attended 14 or more sessions in months one through six (typically, 16 sessions take place in the first six months)
- 71 percent of participants attended six or more sessions in months 7−12 (typically, six sessions take place in the second six months)
Overall average weight loss was 8.3 percent during the year-long cohort, well above the National DPP lifestyle change program goal of 5−7 percent weight loss. The response from program participants was positive. Wisconsin DOC plans to scale the National DPP lifestyle change program to all appropriate facilities in the future.
For additional information, consult the white paper “Implementing the National Diabetes Prevention Program Lifestyle Change Program in Correctional Settings.”
If you would like to learn more about how HMA can help your organization implement a DPP program, contact:
Chris Wilks, PhD, Senior Consultant
[i] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Facts, Stats, and Impacts of Diabetes. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/data/statistics-report/index.html. Accessed April 18, 2023.
[ii] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Research Behind the National DPP. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/prevention/research-behind-ndpp.htm. Accessed on June 15, 2023.
[iii] National DPP Coverage Toolkit. National DPP Coverage Toolkit: Delivery Options. Available at: https://coveragetoolkit.org/medicaid-agencies/medicaid-agencies-delivery/program-delivery-options/. Accessed January 18, 2023.
[iv]Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Diabetes Prevention Program. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/prevention/index.html. Accessed December 19, 2022.
[v]National DPP Coverage Toolkit. Cost & Value. Available at: https://coveragetoolkit.org/cost-value-elements/. Accessed June 15, 2023.
[vi]Fine A, Gallaway SM, Dukate A. Prevention in Prison: The Diabetes Prevention Program in a Correctional Setting. Diabetes Spectrum. 2019;32(4):331-337.
