University of Pittsburgh Diabetes Institute

Diabetes Prevention Support Center

The mission of the Diabetes Prevention Support Center (DPSC) is to prevent diabetes and improve cardiovascular health by providing support, training, and education to primary care physicians. While our focus is on regional primary care practices, the DPSC is also a resource for the general health care community.

Lifestyle Interventions

The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) demonstrated that type 2 diabetes can be effectively prevented or delayed through intensive lifestyle intervention. Risk for metabolic syndrome also was reduced through lifestyle changes. Recently, the intensive individual lifestyle intervention used in the DPP was modified use in primary care practice. For study participants identified with metabolic syndrome (NCEP ATPIII definition), Group Lifestyle Balance Intervention (GLBI) was effective in reducing weight, waist circumference, and fasting glucose levels.

While these results are impressive, there are often barriers to implementation:

• Most primary care practices do not have a simple, systematic method for prevention screening and identification of those at risk.
• When at-risk patients are identified in primary care practice, patient education is often limited due to physician and staff time constraints, more urgent medical issues present, and ultimately a general lack of prevention programs available.
• Evaluation of risk identification practices and subsequent outcomes is often lacking in primary care practice.

Goals of the Diabetes Prevention Support Center

At the DPSC, we believe that a comprehensive approach including screening, education, intervention, and evaluation is the cornerstone of a successful diabetes prevention program, and that such a program will be most effective when rooted in the health care system.

The goals of the DPSC are to:

• identify individuals at risk for diabetes and heart disease by providing a systematic yet simple method for prevention screening while incorporating prevention guidelines in an easy-to-use format
• reduce patient risk for diabetes by offering training and support for healthcare workers in primary care practices in the provision of a group-based lifestyle intervention, or alternatively an option for direct patient referral to the DPSC
• make available an evaluation service for assessing the performance of primary care practices in the identification and intervention for diabetes and cardiovascular disease risk factors

Our Services

Prevention screening

• complete prevention screening package includes patient recruitment and comprehensive screening tools
• incorporates current prevention screening guidelines in an easy-to-use format

Group intensive lifestyle intervention (GLBI) training and patienteducation

• quarterly training workshops and certification, GLBI training tapes, and on-site consultation and education
• direct patient referral to the 12-week GLBI series provided by the DPSC

Prevention evaluation

• evaluation service to assess practice performance in identification and intervention for diabetes and cardiovascular disease risk factors

Community resource

• information resource for those in the health care community via our toll-free phone number or website; speakers are also available for community events

How to reach us

If you have any questions about our services or diabetes prevention, or are interested in learning more about the Diabetes Prevention Support Center, call our toll-free telephone number at 1-877-444-DPSC (3772).

Diabetes Prevention Support Center

University of Pittsburgh Diabetes Institute
3512 Fifth Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Phone: 412-383-1286
or toll-free 1-877-444-DPSC (3772)
Fax: 412-383-1974
E-mail: dpsc@edc.pitt.edu