Diabetes as a Population Health Issue in Kansas City

Running head: DIABETES AS A POPULATION HEALTH ISSUE IN KANSAS CITY1
Diabetes as a Population Health Issue in Kansas City
Name
Institution

DIABETES AS A POPULATION HEALTH ISSUE IN KANSAS CITY2
Diabetes as a Population Health Issue in Kansas City
Introduction
Diabetes is described by Redondo et al., (2018) as one of the rapidest growing chronic
ailments across the globe. According to Arnold et al., (2016), the disease affects over 420 million
individuals worldwide.Tancredi et al., (2015) attribute the increasing burden of this condition to
the fact that most of the affected persons go undiagnosed and seek remedies when it is very late.
Being the 7th leading cause of fatality across the globe, Mishra et al., (2015)reveal that diabetes is
highly capable of affecting individuals drawn from all racial, cultural and social
boundaries.According to DuBose et al., (2015), over 250,000 residents of Kansas (translating to
12% of the city’s population) are diabetic. The researchers further reveal that diabetes costs the
administration of Kansas City over $2.4 billion on an annual basis. The current study seeks to
develop a population health advocacy campaign targeting diabetics residing in Kansas City.
Population Description
Diabetes imposes detrimental effects on the populace of Kansas City. According to Liu
et al., (2018), over 0.28 million residents of Kansas City or 12% of the adult population in
Kansas and 0.69 million or 13% of the adult population in Missouri are infected with diabetes.
According to DuBose et al., (2015), Missouri and Kansas spend over 2.4 and 6.7 billion U.S
dollars on this killer disease every year. Further, Redondo et al., (2018) demystify that the
condition lowers the life expectancy of the residents of Kansas City by about 15 years and
increases the dangers of contracting other associated conditions such as amputations of the lower
limb, kidney failures and adult- onset blindness by about 3 times.

DIABETES AS A POPULATION HEALTH ISSUE IN KANSAS CITY3
Specific Objectives for the Kansas City Diabetes Policy
The Kansas City Diabetes Policy shall be implemented with the aim of meeting the
following objectives:
 To increase the levels of awareness of the challenges and economic burden associated
with diabetes in Kansas City.
 To educate the populace of Kansas City on the importance of undertaking early
diagnostic tests as a way of minimizing the deaths associated with diabetes.
Diabetes Advocacy Campaigns in Kansas City
The Strikeout Diabetes campaign
The Strikeout Diabetes fundraising campaign is a fundraising initiative targeting diabetic
populations residing in Kansas City. The Strikeout Diabetes fundraising campaign adopts
multiple social media platforms and field games such as football with the aim of fostering the
issues of diabetes awareness. The subscribers to this venture volunteer to make use of sporting
events to foster proper education of the residents of Kansas City on the dangers of diabetes, the
importance of undertaking early prevention initiatives and the economic burden of this disease.
Further, the campaign works in collaboration with other organizations such as JDRF Kansas
City, Royals Charities and Sun Life Financial to support initiatives such as the Bag of Hope
Program. The Bag of Hope program was developed by JDRF to help vulnerable diabetics in
Kansas City with essential personal supplies and educational materials.
The Take It Back Prediabetes Awareness Campaign
Take It Back Prediabetes Awareness Campaign is an anti-diabetes movement operating
in Missouri with the aim of encouraging residents to enroll in CDC recommended diabetes
prevention ventures. The campaign is funded by the CDC’s National Diabetes Prevention