DREAM Team Updates December 2023

DREAM Team Updates

December 2023

MOBILE DIABETES EDUCATION CENTER (MOBEC)

SERVING SOLANO COUNTY

The MOBEC Team continues to partner with neighborhood faith-based organizations, food distribution sites, senior housing complexes, schools, libraries, and other public events/locations to provide much-needed prediabetes and diabetes awareness services and one-on-one self-management diabetes education to our community members in Solano County. Two hundred sixty-two people received blood glucose and/or blood pressure screenings through MOBEC services between June 2023 and November 2023. Of those, 11% of the people screened were found to have blood glucose above the normal range (people with no previous diagnosis of prediabetes or diabetes).

Check our Events section to find out where and when MOBEC will be on the road at tu.edu/mobec. TUC students are encouraged to participate in our community visits. Sign up to volunteer on MOBEC at www.wejoinin.com/sheets/tpaiw.

NATIONAL DPP LIFESTYLE CHANGE PROGRAM

WORKING TO PREVENT TYPE 2 DIABETES

A lifestyle change is often easier said than done, but our National Diabetes Prevention Program is here to help one step at a time! TUC is a partner organization of the National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), a CDC-recognized lifestyle change program to help people with prediabetes. Since 2015, many TUC students have become DPP coaches to facilitate engaging lectures and active discussions around balanced eating, physical activity, stress management, and self-motivation. The 1-year program empowers community members to take charge of their health and reverse their diagnosis of prediabetes! This September, our team launched a new cohort and is currently in the first phase of its journey: learning about the condition and receiving tools to help create a wellness plan. The second phase of their journey will be a monthly meeting focusing on enhancing and maintaining the changes made during the program's first phase. For community members who are ready to have a healthier, better tomorrow, please contact our team at (707) 638-5970 or tuc.mobec@touro.edu.

SUCCESS WITH DIABETES

THE DIABETES EDUCATION PROJECT

What looks like a group of people playing bingo or Jeopardy may be TUC students and community members enjoying a Success with Diabetes class! Success with Diabetes is an engaging six-session program designed to help people with type 2 diabetes understand their condition and provide tools to manage their diabetes successfully. Participants learn about different aspects of healthy living, including stress management, nutrition, medications, and more. In the last few months, we offered two in-person cohorts in Vallejo at Sereno Village Apartments and Florence Douglas Center. Success with Diabetes has had an exciting year, having 6 TUC student coaches and 57 enrolled participants, and for the first time since launching this program, a full year of all in-person cohorts. With a growing number of interest in Spanish diabetes education, we aim to include a Spanish cohort in the new year! We hope 2024 will bring new, culturally relevant education to join our English, Spanish, and Tagalog programs. For community members ready to tackle diabetes or students interested in our mission, please contact our team at (707) 638-5970 or tuc.mobec@touro.edu.

PHARM2HOME INITIATIVE

P2H INITIATIVE EXPANDS CLINICAL PHARMACY SERVICES AROUND THE SOLANO COMMUNITY TO ADVANCE HEALTH EQUITY

The Pharm2Home Initiative is a clinical-pharmacist-led program to bridge the gaps between clinical appointments. The team recognizes that being challenged with multiple social determinants of health can impair an individual’s ability to perform effective chronic disease management. Thus, individualized education and care coordination are offered to meet the needs of the participants. The team has made its way around Solano County, reaching out to over 156 participants (as of September 2023) and preventing 63 unscheduled hospital or clinic visits resulting from hypoglycemic events. At enrollment, three participants self-monitored their blood pressure; at evaluation, the number increased to 40 participants. This was a 13.3-fold improvement. Self-monitoring blood glucose increased from 8 to 50 participants when comparing enrollment to evaluation time. This was a 6.25-fold increase. The consistency of self-monitoring directly links to the effectiveness and safety of their pharmacotherapies, which is often necessary for chronic disease management. Twenty-two members have completed the program and reported sustaining their efforts in self-monitoring blood glucose and blood pressure three months after the last visit with the team. With the integration of clinical pharmacists into an interprofessional team, the program continues to receive positive feedback from participants about their enhanced understanding of their chronic conditions, medication usage, and optimized therapies.

While understanding that the healthcare system is a complex environment, the team continues to expand the initiative to reach senior resident facilities and public libraries to perform individualized medication therapy management and chronic disease education. Ten community health events have been conducted to engage 65 diverse participants at senior housing facilities around the county. The evaluation yielded 99 interventional outcomes, including the identification of expired medications, untreated conditions, therapeutic duplications, medications without an indication, drug-drug interaction, contraindications, and adverse drug reactions. Similarly, consultations involving medications, immunizations, lifestyle modifications, and others were recorded 102 times. To gather participant satisfaction, post-encounter surveys were administered, with 60 participants completing the questionnaire. The impact was rated with 13.6% self-modified behaviors after the initial encounter and 31.2% recommendations accepted by participants’ clinicians. The Pharm2Home Initiative is made possible by Sutter Health and Kaiser Permanente's support and funding!

NATIONAL DPP LIFESTYLE COACH TRAINING

BECOME A LIFESTYLE COACH

Our National DPP (Diabetes Prevention Program) Lifestyle Coach Training Program continues to offer training in a virtual setting. Seventy coaches were trained between July and December 2023 by the Touro University California National DPP Lifestyle Coach Training Team. It may seem enduring to attend a training for 12 hours via Zoom over two or three days; however, this training effectively engages attendees in interactive sessions. Prospective Lifestyle Coaches participate in Zoom breakout rooms with peers in small groups. Hands-on activities utilizing coaching skills and practicing leading group sessions allowed coaches to gain confidence in leading a group of individuals toward making meaningful lifestyle changes. To learn more about TUC’s National DPP Lifestyle Coach Training Program, please visit diabetesprevention.tu.edu. One elective course credit is available to TUC COM and COP students.

While most of our training is done virtually, the team has recently provided in-person training for the entire Physician Assistant Class of 2026. It is truly a wonderful experience to meet many future healthcare providers ready to help patients make meaningful lifestyle changes.

DIABETES MONTH IN SOLANO COUNTY

ENRICHED BY DIABETES CONFERENCES

Every November, the DREAM Team has an extra mission – celebrating Diabetes Month with the community. This November, our team extended the celebration by coordinating a two-day diabetes conference at the NorthBay Healthcare Green Valley Administration Center in Fairfield, CA.

Day 1: 2023 Solano LNG Diabetes Conference (hosted by American Diabetes Care and Education Specialists)

This was an inaugural diabetes conference conducted by the Solano LNG (Local Network Group). This conference was comprised of two themes: Morning Theme – Nutrition in Diabetes Management Across the Lifespan, led by a group of CDCESs (Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialists) and Registered Dietitians; Afternoon Theme – Pharmacotherapies in Complications Reduction & Comorbidities Management led by clinical pharmacists and diabetologist. Despite being the very first conference, there were over 40 attendees. The attendees shared some positive feedback, confirming the planning approach and setting the foundation for future conference planning.

Day 2: 2023 Diabetes Update – High-Impact Management for Clinicians (hosted by TUC COM)

This was the 7th annual diabetes conference. Every year, diabetes specialists fly in from around the country to share their expertise with our attendees, providing an interprofessional learning environment. Continuing the afternoon theme on Day 1, multiple presentations in the early morning focused on diabetes comorbid conditions; other presentations focused on diabetes technologies and obesity management. The keynote lecture was on Precision Medicine in Diabetes. Lastly, the afternoon sessions were dedicated to two concurrent workshops on Lifestyle Medicine and Diabetes (led by a group of four TUC faculty and staff) and Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) 202 (led by a team of two physicians). This conference attracted over 80 attendees, many of whom attended both days.

Conferences are not only a means to keep up with the state-of-the-art development in the field but also an opportunity to network and share our stories in patient care, aiming to bring the best back to our patients to enhance their quality of life. As Steve Jobs once said, “Stay Hungry. Stay [Motivated]...” Looking forward to more learning in 2024!

AMERICAN COLLEGE OF DIABETOLOGY FIRST CONFERENCE

ADVANCING THE FIELD OF DIABETOLOGY

The American College of Diabetology (ACD) held its first conference and board review on October 21st and 22nd, 2023, at the Westin Hotel in Raleigh, NC. It was a huge success with 66 attendees, which included primary care physicians, diabetologists, current and past diabetology fellows, and endocrinologists. The presenters were nationally and internationally renowned experts in diabetes and metabolism. The annual conference covered up-to-date information related to diabetes care. The plenary sessions covered inpatient diabetes management, advanced diabetes technology, special situations with diabetes care in the elderly, dermatological manifestations of diabetes, management of type 2 diabetes in adolescents, and diabetic complication prevention and management. Touro University faculty Dr. Sumera Ahmed was the ACD conference committee co-chair with Dr. Sarit Polsky from the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine. The conference committee worked tirelessly in the planning and implementation under the leadership of Dr. Jay Shubrook, Chair of ACD. The conference and board review were well received, with excellent feedback. The first board exam for certification in diabetology was conducted in December 2023. The second conference will be held on April 18th and 19th, 2024, in Napa, CA.

Newsletter Credits

Editor: Clipper Young, PharmD, MPH

Designer: Maryelli Ray