Academy of Family Physicians Foundation Will Launch New Model of Peer Support to Drive Behavior Changes in People with Diabetes
June 20 2007 - 3:59PM
PR Newswire (US)
"Peers for Progress" Created with $15 Million Grant from Lilly
Foundation LEAWOOD, Kan., June 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The
American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation today announced
that is has received a $15 million gift from the Eli Lilly and
Company Foundation to help the diabetes community establish a new
model of peer education for people with diabetes. The program will
be rooted in peer-to-peer interactions, mentoring and role-
modeling to create sustainable individual behavioral changes that
will improve long-term outcomes. The grant, distributed over five
years, will fund Peers for Progress, a program that will identify
and train lay volunteers who have diabetes and certify them to be
"Diabetes Mentors." These mentors will then assist other people
with diabetes in better managing the emotional, social and daily
self- care demands of the disease. "We need a new approach if we
are going to successfully fight this debilitating disease," said
Craig Doane, Executive Director of the American Academy of Family
Physicians Foundation. "We believe that better patient outcomes can
occur through grassroots, community-based programs that empower
patients to help each other lead healthier lives." This new
approach comes at a time when the healthcare system is facing a
diabetes pandemic without a parallel increase in the number of
healthcare professionals. Additionally, traditional diabetes
education is under scrutiny. "We believe that engaging people with
diabetes to help and inspire other diabetics and those affected by
their diabetes is a viable path," said Larry Ellingson, president
and chief executive officer, Peers for Progress. "The explosion in
obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes has prompted the
health care system to look at other models that can support care in
these chronic conditions. People helping people can be very
beneficial to patients and health care providers. This approach
will ensure appropriate cost effective supportive care for people
affected by diabetes." The goal of the initiative is to empower one
percent of the people with diabetes in America, or 200,000
patients, to become Diabetes Mentors and to expand globally to
include two million mentors around the world by 2020. The Diabetes
Mentors will help other people with diabetes and become an integral
part of the healthcare system by serving as a social resource for
physicians and diabetes educators. Some will also contribute to the
expansion and self- sustainability of the program by training other
patients to become Diabetes Mentors. "Since 1923, the diabetes
community has relied on Lilly to deliver an answer for one of the
world's most challenging diseases," said Jose Caro, M.D., Lilly
vice president of Global Diabetes Care Outcomes. "One of the ways
we do that is to help organizations like the AAFP provide solutions
that treat the whole person, not just the disease." About Diabetes
Diabetes currently affects 246 million people worldwide and is
expected to affect 380 million by 2025. It is the fourth leading
cause of global death by disease. The humanitarian, economic, and
social costs of diabetes are immense: Some 3 million people die
annually from diabetes-related causes - one death every 10 seconds
and in the same 10 seconds 2 people develops the disease, according
to the International Diabetes Federation. About the American
Academy of Family Physicians Foundation The Foundation serves as
the philanthropic arm of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Its primary goal is to enhance health care delivered to the
American people by developing and providing philanthropic resources
for the promotion and support of family medicine. For more
information, please visit http://www.aafpfoundation.org/. About the
Eli Lilly and Company Foundation The Foundation was established in
1968 to carry out the philanthropic interests of the company and
its employees. The Foundation is funded from the company's profits
and is a major source of the company's support for not-for- profit
organizations. For more information, please visit
http://www.lilly.com/products/access/foundation. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20031219/LLYLOGO )
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20031219/LLYLOGO DATASOURCE:
Eli Lilly and Company CONTACT: Janelle Davis of American Academy of
Family Physicians, 800-274-2237, ext. 5222; or Lauren Cislak, of
Eli Lilly and Company, +1-317-655-0453
Copyright