New York Academy of Medicine

The National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP), a 16-week community-based program conducted by trained lifestyle coaches, is designed to teach people with prediabetes how to modify and sustain their eating and physical activity habits.

The model, which has been shown to reduce participants’ risk of developing the disease by 50%, has been adapted into a group-based program (Y-DPP) delivered by the YMCA. NYHealth previously has supported the implementation of the Y-DPP at YMCAs in 10 regions of New York State. As NYHealth continues to explore options to further replicate the NDPP, it is important to understand if the program can be replicated with fidelity among vulnerable populations in non-YMCA settings. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) released a funding opportunity to test adaptations of effective strategies and approaches for the prevention and treatment of diabetes and/or obesity. In 2013, NYHealth awarded the New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) a grant to collaborate with two other top research institutions working in the area of diabetes prevention to develop and submit a collaborative research proposal on the NDPP to NIDDK.

Under this grant, NYAM assumed a coordinating role to plan the design of the evaluation with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. NYAM developed a detailed work plan and compile comprehensive information on the DPP, its adaptations, and similar programming that effectively engages the target population. NYAM worked with the evaluation partners to develop the research design. As part of designing the research methods, the evaluation partners and NYHealth identified committed and capable community partners who participated in the intervention and the research. Finally, NYAM and its partners drafted and finalized the grant proposal for submission to NIDDK, meeting a March 1, 2013 deadline.