Outreach and Education
Self-Management Diabetes Classes
Fiestabetes - The Latinos Living with Diabetes Support Group
Pediatric Weight Control Classes
Steps to a Healthier Santa Clara County
Collaboration Development

Outreach and Education
The Project provides healthy lifestyles and diabetes treatment and prevention education to medically underserved groups in Santa Clara County in coordination with community-based organizations. We also conduct overall outreach by attending 10 – 12 health fairs or other community events annually to educate the public about chronic conditions and recruit participants for our classes.

Self-Management Diabetes Classes
The Community Diabetes Project, along with the assistance of the Stanford University Patient Education and Research Center , developed a diabetes self-management course for diabetics and their families or support persons. The course, comprised of six 2½-hour classes, is taught in Spanish at clinics and community centers throughout the county of Santa Clara . The classes meet once a week and are led by two trained and certified Peer Educators (Promotores de Salud) who are members of the client population. The topics covered include nutrition, exercise, and preventive care. Medical information is not provided. Rather, participants are encouraged to foster a close relationship with their health care providers, and they are given instruction on how to manage this relationship efficiently.

Fiestabetes - The Latinos Living with Diabetes Support Group
Fiestabetes, the first ever Latino social support group for monolingual Spanish speaking individuals living with type 2 diabetes in the County was created in 2000 in response to the expressed needs of the Diabetes Self-management Class graduates for ongoing support and education. The meetings are held on the third Friday of every month and run for two hours during which participants enjoy a healthy meal, receive education on diabetes control or other health related topic, share testimonies of their progress in controlling their diabetes and participate in a fun activity like dancing, walking or celebrating special cultural appropriate occasions. Most recently, the group has been involved in fundraising activities.

Pediatric Weight Control Classes
In collaboration with the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital , the Community Diabetes Project of the Community Health Partnership is currently offering the Packard Weight Control Program, a family-based, behavioral and educational program designed to promote healthy eating and exercise habits for overweight children between the ages of 8-12 and their families. The Program is offered to groups of nine-12 families that meet every week for six months.  Each of the 24 sessions lasts an hour and a half and focus on: Identifying and avoiding high-calorie, low-nutrient foods, developing better exercise habits, maintaining a healthy diet, even in difficult situations (e.g. family gatherings, holidays, and parties). Click here to read more.

Steps to a Healthier Santa Clara County
STEPS is a federally-funded program led by the Santa Clara County Public Health Department , focusing on the areas of asthma, diabetes, obesity, poor nutrition, physical inactivity, and tobacco use. The program supports local communities to implement President George W. Bush's Healthier US initiative to help Americans live longer, healthier lives. SCC Steps intervention area comprise of 360,609 people, or nearly 21% of the county's population. The demographics of the residents living in this area are 53% Hispanic, 24% Asian, 18% White and 3% Black. There are 66 public schools from five school districts located in the SCC Steps area . The Community Diabetes Project delivers community-based diabetes awareness and education activities.

Collaboration Development
The Diabetes Project and the Partnership have been very active in the creation and development of the Diabetes Coalition of Santa Clara County since early 2002. The Health Trust, Community Health Partnership, and the Diabetes Society of Santa Clara Valley, along with other provider groups, non-profit organizations, researchers, Kaiser Permanente, local hospitals, nurse parish programs, and local foundations established the Coalition to fulfill a need expressed by organizations working in the field of diabetes.

The Diabetes Project and the Partnership have been co-founders of Promotores Unidos of Santa Clara County , the first and only local network of Promotores de Salud. With a membership of around 60 promotores and administrators that have adopted the Promotor Model for outreach and community health education, Promotores Unidos, run completely by volunteers, is still developing as a vibrant and effective organization.