• To improve the health of people with or at risk of developing diabetes through research, care and improved/sustained self-management.
• To slow the forecasted trends in the burden and impact of diabetes.

Objective  

• To strengthen the delivery of diabetes prevention, care and management programs and services through innovation.    

October 2011 Lawson Diabetes Workshop – read the project presentations and presenters’ bios. An integral part of the diabetes funding strategy, the workshop brings our diabetes grantees together to share their work with each other and with leaders in the diabetes field. The October 2011 workshop celebrated the 10th year of the diabetes funding strategy and showcased 11 projects.

Diabetes Program History 

Interest in supporting diabetes care and research dates back to the 1970s when The Lawson Foundation endowed the Helen and Frances Lawson Professorship in Diabetes Research for the Lawson Health Research Institute in London, Ontario. The Professorship was established to support a senior scientist striving to improve the lives of people with diabetes through research to better understand this disease and its solutions. The Foundation’s further contribution of $2,500,000 in 2009-11 to St. Joseph's Health Care Foundation London will grow this fund to support a Chair position, ensuring the sustainability of diabetes research in Canada.   

In the 1990s, the Foundation supported two groundbreaking, community-based diabetes prevention projects – the Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Project and the Latin American Diabetes Prevention Project. We were inspired by the success and outcomes of these initiatives. With this knowledge and in response to growing concern around the challenges of diabetes and the potential to make innovative changes to diabetes prevention and care, the Foundation introduced a Canada-wide diabetes funding strategy in 2001-02. The strategy awards grants every two years through a public call for letters of intent.  

During 2002-11 the diabetes funding strategy supported innovative projects leading to enduring benefits for the community. We awarded 33 grants totalling almost $4,200,000 to projects in type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes, located in urban centres and in rural and remote areas, serving diverse populations including children, teenagers, young adults, pregnant women, First Nations, Inuit, ethno-cultural communities and marginalized groups. The composition of project teams varied from community-based groups with little formal research training to established researchers in academic centres.   

GRANTS AWARDED  

Acadia University

$151,000      2008-2009

Impacting physical activity and exercise in individuals with type 2 diabetes in Nova Scotia: Implementation and evaluation of the 'Physical Activity & Exercise Tool-kit'. The Physical Activity & Exercise Tool-kit was developed by Acadia University in collaboration with the Diabetes Care Program of Nova Scotia and the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology to assist diabetes educators across the primarily rural province of Nova Scotia to promote physical activity and exercise in their practices. For the dissemination and evaluation of the Tool-kit and accompanying exercise program to support diabetes educators in physical activity and exercise prescription and improve physical activity participation and diabetes outcomes in individuals with diabetes.

  

$150,000      2010-2011

Implementation of the “Physical Activity and Exercise Toolkit” as standard practice of quality Diabetes care in Atlantic Canada. The Toolkit was developed by Acadia University in collaboration with the Diabetes Care Program of Nova Scotia and the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology. This resource contains information about exercise and diabetes, patients’ readiness for activity, basic aerobic and resistance training teaching tips as well as materials for clients to help diabetes educators promote physical activity and exercise in their practices. To support the implementation of the Toolkit under different conditions in the four Atlantic provinces to establish criteria for quality diabetes care in physical activity promotion and maintenance. 

BC Children's Hospital Foundation

$100,000      2006-2007

Brighter Smiles: a community-driven model for prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes in remote First Nations communities. BC Children’s Hospital in partnership with Hartley Bay, Kitkatla and Port Simpson communities: to support the determination of the prevalence of type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes (impaired glucose tolerance) among First Nations children in remote communities and the development of culturally-sensitive and culturally-relevant intervention programs for the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes.  

$150,000      2008-2009

Why Weight: A community-based diabetes prevention and education program for youth with mental illness. A unique partnership – the Why Weight program – between the Vancouver Community Child & Youth Mental Health Services and two clinical departments at BC Children’s Hospital (Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and Endocrinology & Diabetes) will evaluate the metabolic risks of second generation (atypical) antipsychotic medications among youth and develop standardized prevention, education and screening protocols that will identify and reduce the potential body weight-related complications that youth with mental illness face when treated with these medications. Healthy Living, Healthy Minds: A Toolkit for Health Professionals. 

Brescia University College Foundation

$150,000      2010-2012

Prediabetes Research and Education Promoting Activity and Responsible Eating (prepare) - a community-based healthy lifestyle patient centred education program for middle (30-59) and older (60+) adults with pre-diabetes. To support the creation, delivery and evaluation of a six-month interdisciplinary education and lifestyle improvement intervention that emphasizes goal-setting and self-management approaches to help middle and older adults with prediabetes to positively change key lifestyle behaviours contributing to the development of type 2 diabetes. 

Canadian Mental Health Association Ontario Division

$150,000      2010-2011

Creating Diabetes Competency Training for Mental Health Peer Support Workers and Outreach to at-Risk Mental Health Consumer/Survivors. To support the development, evaluation and dissemination of a diabetes training module to be delivered by peer support workers for the prevention and self-management of diabetes in the high-risk population of people living with a serious mental illness. The module will be shared broadly across Ontario with primary care, chronic disease prevention and diabetes education organizations, and all community mental health organizations.  

Calgary Health Trust/Alberta Health Services

$100,000      2002-2004

Development and Implementation of a Community-Based and Culturally-Sensitive Diabetes Prevention Program for the Indo-Asian Communities of Calgary. To support the creation of a sustainable, culturally-sensitive and credible diabetes prevention and management program in partnership with Indo-Asian communities in Calgary. The intent is to reduce the prevalence and incidence of diabetes and its complications in vulnerable populations by building active involvement and capacity, at both the individual and community levels. 

$150,000      2008-2009

An Innovative, Targeted and Community-based Diabetes Prevention and Management Program for the Homeless Population and Shelter Residents in Calgary. Toward the identification of appropriate strategies and approaches for delivery of an effective and accessible diabetes prevention and management program to the homeless population, and ultimately, development and implementation of a sustained and safe diabetes program for this socially and medically disadvantaged population. 

Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA)

$72,000      2012-2014

National dissemination of Building Competency in Diabetes Education vol. 3: Physical Activity and Exercise Professional Resource Manual, in collaboration with Acadia University. The knowledge translation initiative aims to build capacity and competency in physical activity counseling and exercise prescription in diabetes education, through national dissemination of a physical activity and exercise resource manual and hands-on training workshops for diabetes educators across Canada. This project builds on the work of Acadia University, the Diabetes Care Program of Nova Scotia and the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology to develop the “Physical Activity and Exercise Toolkit” for diabetes care professionals in Atlantic Canada.

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke

$112,000      2008-2009

Identification of predictors of success for lifestyle modifications in pre-diabetic overweight individuals. Toward the evaluation of a clinical practice weight-loss readiness tool to identify predictors of favourable and unfavourable response to a lifestyle intervention program for overweight people with pre-diabetes. Predictors of success will help guide health professionals in the selection of the most suitable candidates for lifestyle intervention programs, increasing the effectiveness of these programs. 

Children's Hospital Foundation of Manitoba

$142,000      2008-2009

A Trial of Physical Activity in Overweight Youth at Risk for Type 2 Diabetes (POWER). For a randomized controlled trial to determine the ‘dose’ of physical activity needed to improve metabolic health in overweight youth at risk for type 2 diabetes. 

Hospital for Sick Children Foundation

$134,000      2005-2007

“Over Ten” Program. Toward a multilevel and multidisciplinary approach to improved metabolic control in adolescents with type 1 diabetes and persistently poor metabolic control as indicated by HbA1c levels over 10%. These adolescents are at high risk for early development of microvascular complications of diabetes including eye, kidney and nerve damage. ACCESS (Adolescent Centred Care Encouraging Successful Self-Management) Program – formerly the “Over Ten” Program. To support program extension for a third year to allow a minimum of 12-24 months of intensive intervention and/or follow-up for all teens enrolled in the program. 

Lawson Health Research Institute

$100,000      2005-2006

Strategies to prevent progression to type 2 diabetes in an at-risk pediatric population. Toward a study to compare the effectiveness of a holistic lifestyle intervention and a pharmacologic intervention, both aimed at improving insulin sensitivity in obese children, thereby reducing progression to type 2 diabetes. The study also seeks to formulate new short-term biochemical indicators of metabolic control that could be simply applied in a community health setting. 

London Intercommunity Health Centre

$100,000      2004-2005

Diabetes Prevention for Canada’s Global Village – A National Dissemination Project. Toward the dissemination of the Health Centre’s diabetes screening and risk management model to community teams in Canada’s most ethnically populated municipalities, providing training and operational support to adapt the model for use with other high-risk ethnocultural communities across Canada.  

McMaster University

$100,000      2004-2005

Prevention of Diabetes Mellitus in Schizophrenia. To support the development and evaluation of a diabetes prevention program for pre-diabetic individuals being treated for schizophrenia in the community. The program implements the diabetes prevention guidelines through innovative service delivery strategies to meet the special needs of individuals with schizophrenia, helping them to help themselves and integrate enduring lifestyle changes. 

Middlesex-London Health Unit

$150,000      2008-2009

Families In Action Dissemination Project. The Families In Action pediatric obesity screening and risk management model is designed to identify those children at greatest risk for obesity-related health consequences, including type 2 diabetes. To support the implementation and evaluation of a dissemination project to adapt and pilot the Families In Action program with high-risk cultural communities in key urban centres: Toronto, Ottawa, Kitchener and London. 

Mount Sinai Hospital - Leadership Sinai Centre for Diabetes

$100,000      2006-2007

SWEET TALK: Success with Expectations, Emotions & Thoughts - Coping Skills Training to enhance effective self-care in the young adult population with type 1 diabetes. Toward the creation of a coping skills training intervention and self-management education program, customized for adolescents/young adults with type 1 diabetes, a group that is vulnerable to diabetes complications and psychosocial issues, including risk-taking behaviours. This new intervention, to be developed in web, individual and group formats and designed for many practice settings, may lead to improved self-care behaviours and metabolic control. 

Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada

$100,000      2004-2006

Pauktuutit Inuit Diabetes Awareness Project. To support the engagement of members of the Inuit community in the development of culturally and linguistically appropriate information resources and activities and their delivery to Canada’s Inuit population.  

Port Alberni Youth Health Society

$100,000      2004-2005

Peer Education – Diabetes Prevention Project. To support the development, delivery and evaluation of a youth-driven “Diabetes Prevention Through Healthy Lifestyle” initiative. It will target school-aged youth and will involve community and school-based interventions. 

Regional Health Authority - Central Manitoba Inc.

$116,000      2006-2007

HOOPS for Diabetes: Healing Ourselves and Others through Peer Support for Diabetes. To support the engagement of the people of Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation in the development and implementation of a sustainable strategy to address the diabetes epidemic in their community.   

St. Joseph's Health Care Foundation

$2,500,000      2009-2011

Helen and Frances Lawson Chair in Diabetes Research. In the 1970s and 80s, The Lawson Foundation endowed the original Helen and Frances Lawson Professorship in Diabetes Research for the Lawson Health Research Institute in London, Ontario. The Professorship was established to support a senior scientist striving to improve the lives of people with diabetes through research to better understand this disease and its solutions. Further contributions by the Foundation during 2009-2011 will grow this fund to support a Chair position, ensuring the sustainability of diabetes research in Canada. 

University of Alberta

$144,000      2008-2009

BRAID Prevention of Obesity and Diabetes in Children and Families (BRAID-KIDS). To support the implementation and evaluation of BRAID-KIDS to understand how to best prevent diabetes among children, while recognizing that the context is important in two aspects: the family and the history of First Nations in Canada. Within Driftpile Cree Nation, BRAID-KIDS will compare the efficacy of a tradition-based diabetes prevention strategy to conventional school and community-based promotion and diabetes prevention strategies. 

$150,000      2010-2011

Healthy Eating & Active Living for Diabetes in Primary Care Networks (HEALD-PCN). To implement and evaluate the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of an evidence-based program to enhance lifestyle modification for patients with type 2 diabetes within Alberta’s emerging Primary Care Network environment. 

University of British Columbia

$150,000      2010-2011

Digital Access through Web 2.0 Networking (DAWN):  A new approach to assist rural multicultural communities to optimize diabetes self-care through social networking with health professionals. To increase the health and wellbeing of Chinese- and Punjabi-speaking diabetics through improved self-management knowledge, attitude and skills. The program will use Web 2.0 social media formats to disseminate culturally relevant, translated patient education materials, engage patients in live video and web conference forums across rural and urban British Columbia and develop an online virtual community across the province for patient education support. 

University of Lethbridge

$117,000      2006-2008

The Clinical and Economic Impacts of eHealth on Diabetes Traditional diabetes education will be compared to the ehealth version by examining metabolic control, self-care management practices and knowledge, and health resource utilization. The economic impact on the health system of each form of diabetes education will also be assessed. To support the creation of an ehealth education interface for type 2 diabetes. For a six-month program extension to allow for full participant recruitment and follow-up. 

University of Manitoba

$100,000      2006-2007

Impact of an Urban Community-based Obesity and Diabetes Prevention Program in Socio-economically Disadvantaged Pregnant Women. In partnership with Healthy Start for Mom & Me: to support an urban community-based study centred on an exercise and dietary intervention program to help pregnant women reduce the risk for diabetes and excessive weight gain during pregnancy. The results of this project will affect the capacity of communities to improve pregnancy outcomes and the health of women and children through lifestyle interventions.

$150,000      2008-2009

Money Where the Mouth Is: Preventing & Controlling Diabetes in Aboriginal Canadians. A partnership between the Norway House Cree Nation Aboriginal Diabetes Program and the Centre for Community Oral Health, Faculty of Dentistry: to improve diabetes outcomes for the Norway House community by implementing culturally-appropriate health promotion and education initiatives for children and youth and by reducing diabetes-related morbidity through early identification, improved tracking and support, and the integration of periodontal care into existing community services.  

University of New Brunswick

$142,000      2008-2009

Optimizing the Management of Wounds Secondary to Diabetes within the Home. For the development and evaluation of a mechanism that enables nurses, caring for patients in their homes who have complex wounds secondary to diabetes, to consult with clinical nurse experts to establish treatment plans reflecting the best available evidence as well as the patients' unique needs and circumstances in order to optimize wound healing, glycemic control and quality-of-life. 

University of Victoria

$150,000      2010-2011

The Effectiveness of the Diabetes Self-Management Program in a Canadian Context. To determine the effectiveness of two peer-led programs - the Diabetes Self-Management Program and Chronic Disease Self-Management Program - in improving the diabetes health outcomes of and reducing the health care utilization by adults with type 2 diabetes. 

Western University

$120,000      2008-2009

A Nutrition & Exercise Lifestyle Intervention Program (NELIP) for Women with Gestational Diabetes. To investigate the practical implications and feasibility of the structured Nutrition and Exercise Lifestyle Intervention Program, steeped in compliance strategies, to improve health outcomes for women with gestational diabetes mellitus and their children. 

$150,000      2008-2009

Children's Health and Activity Modification Program (CHAMP): A Community-based Lifestyle Intervention for Obese Children at Risk for Type 2 Diabetes and their Families. To develop, implement and assess the effectiveness of a four-week family-focused lifestyle intervention program involving physical activity, diet and behavioural treatment components in relation to physical activity adherence, as well as a range of physiological and psychological outcomes, for obese children at risk for type 2 diabetes. 

William Osler Health Centre Foundation

$50,000      2002-2004

Post Partum Gestational Diabetes Education and Prevention Project. For the development and implementation of a lifestyle education program targeting women who have had gestational diabetes and are at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes in later life. The project will assess whether post partum screening tests are done as recommended in Clinical Practice guidelines and that preconception counseling takes place for future pregnancies. 

Winnipeg Regional Health Authority

$75,000      2003-2004

The Maestro Project : Building Connections - A Community Resource for Young Adults with Diabetes. To support the pilot of a new transition model for young adults aged 18 - 25 years with diabetes in Manitoba that includes a unique, centralized, comprehensive, coordinated, case manager program to assist with the transition to adult health care. 

$150,000      2010-2011

Ensuring Adequacy of Care for Home Care Clients with Diabetes. To develop and evaluate a new diabetes care management protocol for long term adult Home Care clients, the majority of whom are older adults with complex health care needs. 

Women's College Hospital

$141,000      2010-2011

Improving Diabetes Prevention in Women with Previous Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM). To determine the impact of timing on readiness for diabetes prevention in women with recent GDM and identify unmet needs and barriers to positive lifestyle change. The findings will help design a diabetes prevention program for young mothers with previous GDM.  

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