The American Diabetes Association®
The mission of the American Diabetes Association® (ADA) is to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. This chronic disease is one of the fastest growing in the world, with 136 million Americans living with diabetes or prediabetes and a new diagnosis occurring every 26 seconds.
In the face of this epidemic, our mission has never been clearer and our vision of a life free of diabetes and all its burdens is more critical than ever before. Through advocacy, program development, and education, we aim to improve the quality of life for everyone affected by diabetes. With the support of our partners and the diabetes community, we are making meaningful progress in spurring new research, putting the most up-to-date information into the hands of health care professionals, and working to build a more equitable health care system. We are also making community connections through camps and no-cost programs to support people in living well with diabetes. Life with diabetes and prediabetes requires constant vigilance against highs, lows, and long-term complications. We are here with resources to meet people where they are—offering nutrition ideas, mental health encouragement, and evidence-based recommendations for diabetes treatments and technologies.
To explore our programs and resources and to join us in the fight to end diabetes, visit diabetes.org.
T1D Exchange
T1D Exchange is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving outcomes for all people with diabetes through real-world evidence and collaborative change. Leveraging T1D Exchange’s broad network, we facilitate research and drive improvement in diabetes care and outcomes.
The T1D Exchange Quality Improvement Collaborative (T1DX-QI) comprises 61 centers and over 300 providers who are caring for more than 140,000 people living with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The T1DX-QI drives quality improvement initiatives, developing and disseminating best practices in clinical diabetes care. Additionally, the 20,000+ participants in the T1D Exchange Registry share the patient voice in longitudinal and cross-sectional research studies.
The T1DX-QI has identified practical, evidence-based solutions to address diabetes health equity.
In the last four years, the T1DX-QI established the Health Equity Advancement Lab (HEAL) (14), collaborated with several centers to improve processes to increase the use of diabetes technology (15), and published numerous manuscripts analyzing diabetes health inequities (4, 16-18). Additionally, the T1DX-QI is engaged with multiple stakeholders who are well-primed to tackle diabetes health inequities. The HEAL Advisory Committee comprises health equity experts from over 60 institutions with racial/ethnic and LBGTQ+ equity expertise and people with lived type 1 diabetes experience. The committee shares recommendations and guidance on T1DX-QI health equity activities. In addition, the T1DX-QI has also facilitated dozens of industry-sponsored projects for population health analysis and healthcare improvement. (4,19-22).
A JOINT LETTER FROM OUR CEOS
There are 136 million Americans living with diabetes or prediabetes. Until there is a cure, we must work together to both prevent and delay diabetes and support those living with all types of diabetes so they can decrease the likelihood of developing complications. Unfortunately, we live in a world where not everyone has the same access to tools and resources to address their health.
In America, Black and Hispanic/Latino adults are 70% more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes, while American Indians and Alaska Natives are almost twice as likely to be diagnosed compared to non-Hispanic white adults. Compared to non-Hispanic white people, Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black people with type 1 diabetes have higher A1C levels. In addition, millions of Americans struggle to afford health care, insulin, and other medications to manage their diabetes and associated complications.
Our respective organizations, the American Diabetes Association® (ADA) and T1D Exchange, believe health equity is a human right. Together, we’re fighting to build an equitable health care system to ensure everyone has access to the best possible diabetes care. That is why we are joining forces to host the first annual “Achieving Diabetes Equity in Practice Today” ADEPT Conference.
The ADEPT Conference will convene health equity and diabetes thought leaders, health care providers, industry representatives, and other stakeholders for collective learning and best practice sharing to address health equity. The conference will highlight some incredible work taking place and will provide attendees with practical, actionable information and networking contacts to help them with their health equity initiatives. Through your support, we can move closer to a world where health equity is a reality.
We hope you’ll join us!
REFERENCES
- National Diabetes Statistics Report: Center for Disease Control 2024 [Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/php/data-research/index.html.
- Kirk JK, D’Agostino RB, Jr., Bell RA, Passmore LV, Bonds DE, Karter AJ, et al. Disparities in HbA1c levels between African-American and non-Hispanic white adults with diabetes: a meta-analysis. Diabetes Care. 2006;29(9):2130-6.
- Karter AJ, Parker MM, Moffet HH, Gilliam LK. Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Association Between Mean Glucose and Hemoglobin A1c. Diabetes Technol Ther. 2023;25(10):697-704.
- Lavik AR, Ebekozien O, Noor N, Alonso GT, Polsky S, Blackman SM, et al. Trends in Type 1 Diabetic Ketoacidosis During COVID-19 Surges at 7 US Centers: Highest Burden on non-Hispanic Black Patients. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 2022;107(7):1948-55.
- Cai C, Woolhandler S, McCormick D, Himmelstein DU, Himmelstein J, Schrier E, et al. Racial and Ethnic Inequities in Diabetes Pharmacotherapy: Black and Hispanic Patients Are Less Likely to Receive SGLT2is and GLP1as. J Gen Intern Med. 2022;37(13):3501-3.
- Simoni JM, Smith L, Oost KM, Lehavot K, Fredriksen-Goldsen K. Disparities in Physical Health Conditions Among Lesbian and Bisexual Women: A Systematic Review of Population-Based Studies. J Homosex. 2017;64(1):32-44.
- Kumar GS, Beeler JA, Seagle EE, Jentes ES. Long-Term Physical Health Outcomes of Resettled Refugee Populations in the United States: A Scoping Review. J Immigr Minor Health. 2021;23(4):813-23.
- Improving Health in Appalachia: Centers for Disease Control; 2023 [Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/health-equity/improving-health-appalachia.html.
- Bower JK, Butler BN, Bose-Brill S, Kue J, Wassel CL. Racial/Ethnic Differences in Diabetes Screening and Hyperglycemia Among US Women After Gestational Diabetes. Prev Chronic Dis. 2019;16:E145.
- Fisher-Hoch SP, Vatcheva KP, Rahbar MH, McCormick JB. Undiagnosed Diabetes and Pre-Diabetes in Health Disparities. PLoS One. 2015;10(7):e0133135.
- Health and Economic Benefits of Diabetes Interventions: Centers for Disease Control; 2024 [Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/priorities/diabetes-interventions.html#cdc_generic_section_2-the-high-cost-of-diabetes.
- Deloitte Analysis: Health Care Costs for Average American Could Triple by 2040 if Health Inequities are Unaddressed While Annual Spending Could Exceed $1 Trillion [press release]. Deloitte2022.
- Lv F, Gao X, Huang AH, Zu J, He X, Sun X, et al. Excess diabetes mellitus-related deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. EClinicalMedicine. 2022;54:101671.
- Ebekozien O, Mungmode A, Odugbesan O, Majidi S, Prahalad P, Noor N, et al. Addressing type 1 diabetes health inequities in the United States: Approaches from the T1D Exchange QI Collaborative. J Diabetes. 2022;14(1):79-82.
- DeSalvo DJ, Noor N, Xie C, Corathers SD, Majidi S, McDonough RJ, et al. Patient Demographics and Clinical Outcomes Among Type 1 Diabetes Patients Using Continuous Glucose Monitors: Data From T1D Exchange Real-World Observational Study. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2023;17(2):322-8.
- Ebekozien O, Odugbesan O, Rioles N, Majidi S, Jones N-HY, Kamboj M. Equitable post-COVID-19 care: a practical framework to integrate health equity in diabetes management. JCOM. 2020;27(6):256-9.
- Ebekozien O, Agarwal S, Noor N, Albanese-O’Neill A, Wong JC, Seeherunvong T, et al. Inequities in Diabetic Ketoacidosis Among Patients With Type 1 Diabetes and COVID-19: Data From 52 US Clinical Centers. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2021;106(4):e1755-e62.
- EBEKOZIEN O, NOOR N, KAMBOJ MK, ODUGBESAN O, MAJIDI S, HOPKINS R, et al. 167-OR: Inequities in Glycemic Outcomes for Patients with Type 1 Diabetes: Six-Year (2016–2021) Longitudinal Follow-Up by Race and Ethnicity of 36,390 Patients in the T1Dx-QI Collaborative. Diabetes. 2022;71(Supplement_1).
- Alonso GT, Ebekozien O, Gallagher MP, Rompicherla S, Lyons SK, Choudhary A, et al. Diabetic ketoacidosis drives COVID-19 related hospitalizations in children with type 1 diabetes. J Diabetes. 2021;13(8):681-7.
- Beliard K, Ebekozien O, Demeterco-Berggren C, Alonso GT, Gallagher MP, Clements M, et al. Increased DKA at presentation among newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes patients with or without COVID-19: Data from a multi-site surveillance registry. Journal of Diabetes. 2021;13(3):270-2.
- The Official Journal of ATTD Advanced Technologies & Treatments for Diabetes CONFERENCE 27–30 April 2022 I BARCELONA & ONLINE. Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics. 2022;24(S1):A-1-A-237.
- The Official Journal of ATTD Advanced Technologies & Treatments for Diabetes Conference 22‐25 February 2023 I Berlin & Online. Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics. 2023;25(S2):A-1-A-269.
- Health Equity: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers; 2024 [Available from: https://home.liebertpub.com/publications/health-equity/641.