Driven by the Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center with support from other stakeholders involved in Cities for Better Health - Houston, the Faith & Diabetes Initiative aims to empower diverse faith communities in Greater Houston to better understand and address living with diabetes.
By better understanding and addressing diabetes awareness, prevention, and management with special attention to religious belief, practice, and community life, we believe that faith and health are inextricably linked, and that communities of faith have a key role in terms of making Houston a healthier place to live, work, and play. Central to Faith & Diabetes Houston is the Congregational Health Leadership Training Program, which empowers lay leaders in diverse communities of faith to address pressing health issues, with a special focus on living with diabetes.
The Faith and Diabetes Initiative is part of Cities for Better Health - Houston and is an effort to engage leaders within communities of faith around diabetes awareness, prevention, and treatment. Central to The Faith and Diabetes Initiative is the Congregational Health Leadership program, which empowers lay leaders in diverse faith communities to address pressing health issues, focusing on diabetes. Following completion of the training, participants must run a 6-week Diabetes Self-Management Course in their community of faith.
If you are interested in bringing Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support programs to your faith community, let us know!
The Houston Chronicle wrote an article about our Cohort 2 participants.
Huffington Post recently featured the Faith and Diabetes Initiative in an article on the opportunities for houses of faith in chronic disease prevention.
The DiaTribe Foundation, which provides free cutting-edge diabetes insights and actionable tips for people with diabetes, ran an in-depth article on the Faith & Diabetes Initiative.
“Cities Changing Diabetes demonstrates that when we in Houston put our minds to something, we get it done. It is through community-wide initiatives and public-private partnerships like this that Houston gets its best work done, and I stay highly motivated to support Cities Changing Diabetes”
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In Houston, Cities for Better Health is led by the Institute and supported by the following organizations:
Houston Health Department (lead)
American Association of Diabetes Educators
American Diabetes Association
Asian American Health Coalition
City of Houston HR Department
Clinton Health Matters Initiative
The Fountain of Praise
Harris County Public Health
Hispanic Health Coalition
Houston Business Coalition on Health
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The Congregational Health Leadership Training includes six three-hour group-learning seminars and 18 hours of class time. Participants will hear from experts in their respective fields, engage in collaborative, experiential learning, discuss the issues most pressing to them, and envision the future of their respective health and wellness initiatives.
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The evidence-based curriculum, which was created by a multi-sector, stakeholder-driven work group driven by the Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center and organized as part of Cities for Better Health - Houston, features six themes:
Diabetes self-management and treatment
Diabetes prevention and awareness
Religious belief, practice, and health
Leadership and communication
Evaluation techniques and principles
Peer support strategies
CORE Initiative, Harris County Public Health, Houston Health Department, and the Institute for Spirituality and Health are responsible for conducting the training. Each provides trainers with expert knowledge and experience in working with faith—and community-based organizations.
By the end of the training, participants are prepared to lead diabetes self-management courses.