- April 23, 2020

 

The Dignity Health Arizona division’s Community Grants Program awarded $100,000 to support “!Viva! – A Family Centered Obesity and Diabetes Prevention Program.” Details below:

Diabetes Prevention Program Receives Dignity Health Community Grant Program Funding

The Dignity Health Arizona division’s Community Grants Program awarded $100,000 to support “!Viva! – A Family Centered Obesity and Diabetes Prevention Program.” This grant extends the reach of a long-standing collaboration between the Valley of the Sun YMCA, St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) Center for Family Wellness, and ASU’s Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention to include Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Pediatrics. 

For more than a decade, the YMCA, SVdP, and ASU have successfully collaborated to develop, test, refine, and expand diabetes prevention programs for children and families. Engaging St. Joseph’s outpatient pediatrics clinic, which is part of the Dignity Health Medical Group, as an active partner with a clinical population will increase the potential for impact of the collaboration to reduce diabetes risk and improve quality of life for high-risk pediatric patients.

The pediatrics clinic will refer patients with overweight or obesity issues and their families to a 12-week program that includes physical activity classes at a local YMCA, and hands-on nutrition education classes led by registered dietitians and community health workers from the SVdP Center for Family Wellness. Allison Williams, Research Program Manager at ASU’s CHPDP who will provide overall project management and coordination for the collaboration says, “We are excited about the opportunity to expand family-centered diabetes prevention programming and with the Valley of the Sun YMCA serving as the lead agency, we are moving evidence based-interventions into the community where they can have the biggest impact.”

Dignity Health is committed to dedicating resources to support compassionate, high-quality, and affordable health services. Dignity Health's Community Grants Program is one way the health system “works with others to address the social determinants of health, increases access to quality health care, and improves the quality of life in the communities they serve.”

Congratulations to all partners on this well-deserved award! 

Additional Media Coverage on ASU Now: https://asunow.asu.edu/20200504-asu-diabetes-prevention-program-receives-grant-dignity-health