What are the best library programs in the country addressing health and wellness issues? From 50 state winners, a grand prize winner has been chosen by a Federal panel, receiving $20,000 for its innovative work to reduce the risk of diabetes.
An all-day forum featuring the ten finalist libraries took place at the National Library of Medicine on May 3rd. The grand prize winner was announced at a reception that evening. NLM is pleased to have provided some support to six of the finalist winners through the National Network of Libraries of Medicine.
And the winner is:
- The "REACH 2010" Charleston and Georgetown (South Carolina) Diabetes Coalition's Library Partnership.
This partnership expands Internet access at five community sites and also trains people to use high-quality diabetes information via libraries and the Internet. REACH 2010 seeks to eliminate disparities for more than 12,000 African American diagnosed with diabetes by improving self-management and care. REACH 2010 is a national demonstration project coordinated by the Medical University of South Carolina and funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For more information, go to the REACH 2010 Web site, http://reach.musc.edu
Nearly 21 million Americans have diabetes, according to recent figures from the National Diabetes Education Program, and another 41 million have pre-diabetes. Disparities for African Americans with diabetes include decreased diabetes education, medications and treatment for diabetes, as well as increased emergency department use, increased hospitalizations, costs of care and increased complications, especially amputations, renal failure and cardiovascular disease.
The Health Information Awards program is sponsored by the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS), an independent agency of the Federal government created to advise the President and Congress on national and international library and information policies and to develop plans for meeting national library and information needs. This is the second year of the nationwide competition. The NCLIS web site is: http://nclis.gov
