A West Columbia community group has been chosen as part of a $3.4 million federal program to prevent and manage Type 2 diabetes rates among African American and Hispanic residents.

The Brookland-Lakeview Empowerment Center will receive $500,000 to put between 200 and 350 people through a 24-week educational program to teach them ways to manage their diabetes and potentially prevent the worst consequences of the disease, which can lead to kidney problems, amputations and even death.

It’s an effort many say will prevent deaths and improve the quality of life for diabetic residents who otherwise would not have access to similar resources.

“The diabetes intervention program can and will make a profound improvement on the lives of the under-served in these communities,” said oncologist and Brookland-Lakeview Empowerment Center board member Dr. Rudolph Wise. “We have to make an impact on this illness because if we don’t, we will see more deaths.”

The money comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health and specifically focuses on family involvement to prevent and manage Type 2 diabetes in African American and Hispanic residents 12 years and older.

Project coordinator Sylvia Flint said the hope is those who have diabetes or pre-diabetes will also bring a family member or other support person who will learn about treatment and maintenance as well. That person would, ideally, be able to help support the diabetic relative after the program ends.

The classes begin May 5, and the Brookland-Lakeview center is actively recruiting participants. Those looking for information about the program should call (803) 744-1969. Thus far, 15 people representing nine families are enrolled in the program, Flint said.

Members of the Brookland-Lakeview Center, the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control and other community members gathered Tuesday morning to celebrate the program’s launch and to sign a community partnership agreement.

Story continues

“The best case of diabetes is the one that never happens,” said DHEC director Dr. Edward Simmer during the event. “Make no mistake, this program is going to save lives.”

Diabetes was the eighth-leading cause of death in South Carolina in 2020, and the illness affects non-white residents at far greater rates than their white counterparts.

Black Americans are twice as likely to die from the disease and 60% more likely to be diagnosed than white Americans. Hispanic Americans are 1.3% more likely to die from diabetes than white Americans and 70% more likely to be diagnosed with the illness, according to federal data.

The new initiative focuses on uninsured Black and Hispanic residents in West Columbia and Cayce.

The Brookland-Lakeview Empowerment Center is one of seven organizations in the nation that received money for this new federal program. Community groups in Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Oklahoma, Texas, and Washington are also piloting the program.

The State Media Co. last month published a report highlighting the significant rates of amputation largely tied to diabetes in a different local area – north Columbia’s 29203 zip code, where amputation rates are among the highest in the deep South.

That project found a lack of access to healthy food and affordable medical care were among the causes.

The grant for the Brookland-Lakeview Center doesn’t expressly support the addition of those resources, but Simmer said prevention education is one of a handful of tools the state hopes to work on with local community groups.

“An amputation is forever,” Simmer said. “Anything we can do to avoid people getting to that point is incredibly important,” which is why this initiative resonates, he added.

The partnership between DHEC and the Brookland-Lakeview Empowerment Center illustrates a new direction from the state’s public health agency in which grassroots organizations will be tapped to lead programs specific to disparities in their communities.

“They know their communities, they know what their communities need,” Simmer said.

The state agency last week announced it would focus its post-pandemic work on health disparities across the state that were highlighted during the coronavirus pandemic. That work relies on localized efforts in different South Carolina communities.

“Many of the disparities impacting health outcomes in South Carolina and across the nation have developed over a long period of time as a result of discriminatory policies and practices,” Dr. Linda Bell, State Epidemiologist said in a release last week.

More information about those efforts can be found on DHEC’s website.