Our Arizona Diabetes Program hosted a first of its kind Tribal and Urban Indian Diabetes Programs meeting on June 10^th.  This meeting allowed our Diabetes Program and tribal partners to identify opportunities for partnership while assessing the current diabetes health infrastructure among tribal entities.  It is the Arizona Diabetes Program’s goal to provide technical assistance and resources to further the work of diabetes care for populations at higher risk for diabetes.  In total, 40 tribal communities joined in the dialogue, including entities and organizations from tribal diabetes programs, urban Indian centers, Indian Health Services, hospital systems, and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs).

The meeting was a follow-up from a tribal consultation in 2014 that covered several topics in chronic disease prevention and management, where many tribal partners expressed their interest in engaging in conversations concerning diabetes and exploring further collaborative opportunities.  Under our CDC 1305-Public Health in Actions cooperative agreement, the Arizona Diabetes Program provides technical assistance to tribal programs seeking diabetes self-management education accreditation through the American Association of Diabetes Educators.

This effort will continue forward for at least the next three years and is highly supported by CDC as a way to expand diabetes education in rural areas of Arizona and counties that exhibit higher prevalence rates of diabetes.  The meeting was facilitated by our partners at the University of Arizona’s Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences.