Contradictory Findings Ignite Questions About Blood Glucose Targets in Diabetes

Abstract

search and Review. One of the few studies in the review that showed a reduction in racial disparities was part of the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH 2010) program, sponsored by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Ga. The demonstration program, which took place in Charleston and Georgetown counties in South Carolina, brought together 28 community partners, from health professionals to college sororities and local media, that set goals to improve diabetes care for blacks as well as eliminate health care disparities between black and white patients with diabetes. The partners documented disparities in care for 12 000 black patients with diabetes in the 2-county community. The intervention included such community activities as health fairs, support groups, grocery store tours, community clinics, and church-based educational programs. After 24 months, the partners audited medical charts for 158 black patients and 112 patients who were white or of other racial or ethnic groups. They found that differences between black and white patients in rates of hemoglobin A1c testing, lipid and kidney testing, eye examinations, and blood pressure control that had ranged from 11% to 28% at baseline had been eliminated ( Jenkins C et al. Public Health Rep. 2004;119[3]:322-330). Chin is optimistic that other communities will develop their own, similar programs in the future. “There are a lot of promising models,” he says. “But you may have to revise as you go along, just like in patient care.”