Improving health outcomes and quality of life for people living with type 2 diabetes are the goals of a project between a new research center at U-M and university, health and public officials in North Carolina.
The Center for Geospatial Medicine, which recently moved from Duke University to the School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE), is a partner in a $6.2 million grant announced last week by the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation as part of its national diabetes initiative, Together on Diabetes. The project’s other partners are the Duke University Medical Center and the Durham County Health Department. The project will focus on residents of North Carolina’s Durham County, home to Duke.
“The Center for Geospatial Medicine will be developing geospatial informatics tools to improve the design and delivery of treatment approaches for persons with T2DM. We are grateful to the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation for its belief in our work,” says Marie Lynn Miranda, the center’s director and a professor at SNRE.
Miranda joined SNRE from Duke, where she founded the center and remains an adjunct professor. Miranda becomes dean of SNRE on Jan. 1.
“Attacking a complex problem like diabetes requires a committed team, resources, community engagement and alignment of health care and societal forces,” says Dr. Robert Califf, vice chancellor for clinical research at Duke and leader of the steering committee for the Durham Diabetes Coalition. “We’re excited by this chance to build on the vibrant relationships that already exist among Duke, the Durham health department and other community stakeholders.”
“Changing the course of the nation’s diabetes epidemic requires radically new thinking and intensified collaborative action,” says Patricia Doykos, director of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation. “The project is bringing both to everything from how to account for the diverse drivers of diabetes burden to who can play a role to what to do and how to measure whether it is making a positive impact at the population level.”
During the planning phase, the coalition is employing a technology called geospatial mapping, which takes information related to disease and health care and fits it to the physical map of a community, allowing researchers to visualize complex relationships among the locations of diabetes patients, patterns of health care and available social resources.
This information also is being used to explore gaps in access to care and self-management resources; help patients connect with the community assets; and identify interventions that can result in better health outcomes, both for the individual and the neighborhood as a whole. Geospatial data also will be used to create a continuous feedback loop for improving the quality of project efforts.
Diabetes affects nearly 25.8 million Americans, or 8.3 percent of the country’s population.
“One source estimates more than 10 percent of Durham County residents have been diagnosed with diabetes and at least another 2 percent remain undiagnosed,” says Gayle Harris, director of the Durham County Health Department. “Diabetes is a significant risk factor for heart disease, stroke, kidney failure and cancer, which is the leading causes of death in Durham. Only through community interventions like the Durham Diabetes Coalition can we really change the trends in new cases of diabetes and improve the care of persons with diabetes.”
The Durham Diabetes Coalition will employ a Diabetes Intelligence Officer, who is responsible for designing and implementing communication programs to provide relevant health and lifestyle information to the community. The DIO also will develop community messages and support programs to motivate residents to participate in lifestyle initiatives as a group.
