The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) will receive nearly $5 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to better identify and support individuals with the greatest risk of diabetes and to reduce the overall burden.
These efforts are part of KDHE’s community-clinical linkages project. The project will work with Kansans who are disproportionately impacted by diabetes.
In Kansas, an estimated 1 in 10 (11.1%) adults have been diagnosed with diabetes, and an estimated $2.4 billion in direct medical expenses and indirect costs (loss of productivity due to diabetes) each year. People with diabetes are also more likely to have other chronic diseases like heart disease, kidney disease and nerve damage. They are also more likely to experience social impacts of depression, mental illness, and increased financial burden on health care cost.
This project includes promoting and supporting health behaviors for people with diabetes and those at risk for type 2 diabetes, partnering with communities to increase and sustain local diabetes prevention and diabetes management programs, and engaging employers and insurers to improve coverage for prevention and management classes.
For more information, visit kdhe.ks.gov/855/.
