HealthStart addresses the growing issue of chronic health issues, such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke but utilizing systems thinking approaches. They view the final outcome of adult diabetes as an issue that can be addressed with a more dynamic approach to the solution. The first approach they have taken is to address the issue of education, by presenting the information early to children in order for them to utilize long into adulthood. The second approach they have taken is to address the issue has been to utilize the children who have the educational foundation as tools to generate change in their parents. The goal of this is to generate change in the parent’s behaviors, ultimately reducing the number of cases of chronic illness in both children and adults. HealthStart also reviews their programs and workshops to adapt and change things to best educate and serve their targeted population. They are also adapting the way their lessons are delivered to best meet the needs of the population, current trends, and unforeseen setbacks like the COVID-19 pandemic.
Currently, the organization is not working on policy changes to address the issue of chronic illness. One method they could begin to work on this would be to recruit parents who feel that their children’s health education is lacking to generate policy change in the education curriculum. During the summer 2021 internship, parents who were surveyed felt that their children did not receive adequate nutrition education through their current curriculum. This information would assist HealthStart in working with other parents to advocate for policy change, which would help in reducing the prevalence of chronic illness brought on by childhood diabetes in children.