Last Updated: December 14, 2022

Author: Diabetes Program, Vermont Department of Health

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, workshops were abruptly canceled while My Healthy Vermont (MHVT) staff and partners worked on solutions for presenting the workshops virtually (Q1 and Q2 2020). During Q3 2020, all Diabetes Self-Management (DSMP) workshops were transitioned from in-person to a distance learning format. In Q4 2020, 3 DSMP workshops were canceled due to lack of registrants; during this time workshops continued to be held via distance learning. Because of the online nature of the workshops, regional coordinators from the various health service areas (HSAs) began collaborating in early 2021 (Q1 and Q2), and workshops began to see statewide participation rather than the regional participation that had been standard previously.

The Vermont Department of Health Heart Disease and Diabetes programs took on management of the MHVT program in the fall of 2021 from the Vermont Blueprint for Health. During this time of transition, the VDH team has been working with MHVT regional coordinators on cross-region collaboration through statewide workshops serving more Vermonters.

Data through Q4 2021 is from the Vermont Blueprint for Health Data Portal.

• MHVT Regional Coordinators from partnering HSAs
• MHVT Workshop Facilitators
• Vermont Blueprint for Health
• Support and Services at Home (SASH)
• HARK Web Design
• Professional Data Analysts
• Diabetes Prevention Coalition
• Chronic Disease Designees

VDH works closely with Community Health Improvement, charged with managing all Blueprint-supported self-management programs statewide. This new collaboration is building on pre-established data collection processes to continue to evaluate outcomes from the Healthy Living Workshop for Diabetes. Strong partnerships, like that between VDH, CHI, and the Vermont Blueprint for Health are instrumental in supporting the needs of the VDH Dashboard Scorecard. Our focus is the Healthy Living Workshop for Diabetes data, but Vermonters are also attending other diabetes self-management education programs offered in each health service area. For these, we have very limited statewide data (provided by the CDC via the American Diabetes Association and the American Association of Diabetes Educators).

In addition to increasing the number of Vermonters who complete the Healthier Living Workshops for diabetes, we are also beginning to improve our focus on clinical outcomes and performance measures, noting declines in poorly controlled diabetes (as measured by A1Cs greater than 9).

1. Vermont Department of Health and the Vermont Blueprint for Health staff continue to work with Community Health Improvement to create meaningful data reporting and evaluation strategies in support of the CDC 1815 diabetes and heart disease grant.

2. The Vermont Department of Health will continue to work with partners to increase the delivery of the Healthy Living Workshops for Diabetes (HLW-D). VDH has dedicated staff for marketing-communications at VDH who are funded by the CDC diabetes and heart disease grant. Aditionally, VDH has contracted with HARK Media and Communications to revise and build up the microsite, www.myhealthyvt.org to increase its function in enhancing referrals to the HLW-D and other self-management programs. CHI will continue to work with VDH and HARK to maximize opportunities for program advertisement.