Training YMCA Wellness Instructors to Deliver an Adapted Version of the Diabetes Prevention Program Lifestyle Intervention

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to describe efforts to develop and administer a formal curriculum to train community workers to deliver a group-based adaptation of the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) lifestyle intervention in YMCA settings. The DPP demonstrated that a structured diet and physical activity intervention that achieves and maintains modest weight loss for overweight adults with impaired glucose tolerance can significantly reduce the development of diabetes. Although tens of millions of American adults could benefit from access to the DPP lifestyle intervention, there currently is no available model for nationwide dissemination of this highly beneficial and cost-effective approach to diabetes prevention. A description of 2 ongoing randomized pilot studies provides information about the feasibility and effectiveness of future efforts to apply this new training curriculum on a national scale. Diabetes educators are challenged to partner with community organizations and other health care workers for extensive distribution of the DPP lifestyle intervention messages.