Fresh Start: Intersecting Culinary, Behavioral Support and Social Determinants of Health to Optimize Diabetes Self-Management

To optimize diabetes self-management and glycemic control, multiple factors driving health outcomes must be addressed, including socioeconomic factors (40%, e.g., income/food insecurity), health behaviors (30% diet quality, physical activity), access and quality of health care (20% diabetes self-management education). This session describes the Fresh Start program's comprehensive approach that integrates individually established evidence-based strategies to address each area that predicts health outcomes and successful improvements in diabetes self-management and glycemic control.

The program has demonstrated an average decline of 1.87% HbA1c observed within 4 months for individuals who participated in all components of the program. The Fresh Start program includes 3 synergistic components:

1. The provision of 9 group classes to address knowledge, skills and self-efficacy around food, diabetes self-management and physical activity.
2. One-on-one health coaching conducted over the phone for individualized nutrition and physical activity behavioral goal targets.
3. A produce prescription with complimentary recipes to promote access to healthful food.

Speakers expand upon the developed framework for needed community partnerships and best practices for implementation and evaluation to help replicate the program in other regions and settings. The potential to address other nutrition-related cardiometabolic conditions are also be outlined.

CPE Level: Level 2 (intermediate knowledge/experience)
CPEU: 1.0

Performance Indicators

• 9.2.3 Applies educational theories and uses assessment results for planning process and development of materials and teaching aids.
• 12.3.4 Collaborates with community partners to design programs.
• 14.3.1 Defines project parameters in collaboration with key stakeholders.

Learning Objectives

• Distinguish between traditional diabetes self-management education, medical nutrition therapy for diabetes and the Fresh Start program's comprehensive approach.
• Describe how the Fresh Start program layered evidenced-based strategies to build a synergistic care approach to optimize diabetes outcomes.
• Identify community partners and stakeholders, implementation and evaluation strategies to replicate the framework of the Fresh Start program in other communities or regions.

Moderator

• Zach Cordell

Speakers

• Lauren Sastre
• Brandon Stroud