• Department of Health and Human Services
• Department of Veterans Affairs
• Professional and Voluntary Associations
• Private Organizations

Department of Health and Human Services

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) is the Government's lead agency for diabetes research. NIDDK operates three information clearinghouses of potential interest to people seeking diabetes information and funds six Diabetes Research and Training Centers.

Home page: http://www.niddk.nih.gov

National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse (NDIC)

Mission: To serve as a diabetes information, educational, and referral resource for health professionals and the public. NDIC is a service of NIDDK.

Materials: Diabetes education materials are available free or at little cost. Literature searches on myriad subjects related to diabetes are provided. NDIC publishes Diabetes Dateline, a quarterly newsletter.

National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NKUDIC)

Mission: To provide information about kidney and urologic diseases to the public, patients and their families, and health care professionals. NKUDIC also works with related organizations to educate people about kidney and urologic diseases; answers inquiries; and develops, reviews, and distributes publications. NKUDIC is a service of NIDDK.

Materials: Education materials, including the fact sheet Kidney Disease of Diabetes and the booklet End-Stage Renal Disease: Choosing a Treatment That's Right for You; literature searches on a number of topics related to kidney and urologic diseases; and Research Updates in Kidney and Urologic Health, a semiannual newsletter.

Weight-control Information Network (WIN)

Mission: To address the health information needs of individuals through the production and dissemination of educational materials. In addition, WIN is developing communication strategies for a pilot program to encourage at-risk individuals to achieve and maintain a healthy weight by making changes in their lifestyle.

Materials: Fact sheets, pamphlets, reprints, consensus statements, reports, and literature searches on weight control, obesity, and weight-related nutritional disorders. WIN's newsletter, WIN Notes, is published semi-annually and provides health professionals with the latest research findings and progress about the WIN program.

Diabetes Research and Training Centers (DRTCs)

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) supports six DRTCs across the United States.

Mission: To offer educational seminars and workshops for health care professionals, develop and use an array of educational assessment and evaluation instruments, provide expert advice on developing and implementing diabetes programs, and provide referrals to people with diabetes.

Materials: Individual centers produce a variety of diabetes education materials. For information about publications and programs, contact the individual center listed below:

National Eye Institute (NEI)

Mission: NEI's National Eye Health Education Program (NEHEP) promotes public and professional awareness of the importance of early diagnosis and treatment of diabetes eye diseases. NEHEP is a partnership with various public and private organizations that plan and implement eye health education programs targeted to a variety of high-risk audiences.

Materials: NEI produces patient and professional education materials related to diabetic eye disease and its treatment, including literature for patients, guides for health professionals, and education kits for community health workers and pharmacists. The following are titles that focus on diabetic eye disease: Educating People with Diabetes (kit), Information Kit for Pharmacists, and Ojo con su Visión (Watch Out for Your Vision) (in Spanish).

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Information Center

Mission: To respond to telephone and mail inquiries related to high blood pressure, cholesterol, asthma, heart attack, obesity, and sleep disorders, as well as information requests associated with cardiovascular disease prevention and heart-health promotion.

Materials: Patient education materials are available on numerous topics including cholesterol, high blood pressure, asthma, heart disease, exercise, obesity, stroke, sarcoidosis, and Raynaud's phenomenon. Treatment guidelines for health professionals are available on high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, and asthma. Professional materials are also available on heart and lung health in the workplace and schools. Serial publications include Heart Memo, which provides program updates about cholesterol, high blood pressure, and heart attack, and Asthma Memo, which describes the activities of the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program.

National Oral Health Information Clearinghouse (NOHIC)

Mission: To serve as a resource for patients, health professionals, and the public who seek information on the oral health of special care patients: people with genetic or systemic disorders that compromise oral health, people whose medical treatment causes oral problems, and people with mental or physical disabilities that make dental hygiene difficult. A service of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, NOHIC gathers and disseminates information from many sources, including voluntary health organizations, educational institutions, Government agencies, and industry.

Materials: NOHIC provides a variety of services to help patients and professionals obtain information including patient education materials and literature searches. OH Notes is NOHIC's newsletter, which is published annually.

Mission: Reduce the burden of diabetes in the United States by planning, conducting, coordinating, and evaluating Federal efforts to translate promising results of diabetes research into widespread clinical and public health practice.

Materials: CDC distributes several publications including a patient guide for people with diabetes (available in English and Spanish); a diabetes surveillance report; and an eight-page National Diabetes Fact Sheet: National Estimates and General Information on Diabetes in the United States. State-based diabetes control programs develop and maintain local programs and produce materials on diabetes for the general public and health professionals.

Mission: To develop, document, and sustain a health effort to prevent and control diabetes in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.

Materials: IHS makes many diabetes resources available, including the Diabetes Curriculum Packet, nutrition education materials, general diabetes information, professional resources, training programs, posters, audiovisual materials, and other patient education materials. Educational materials are directed toward populations served by IHS and are written at a lower reading level. Materials can be obtained upon request from the IHS Diabetes Headquarters Office.

Mission: To improve the health of racial and ethnic populations through the development of health policies and programs. OMH-RC is the largest resource and referral service on minority health in the Nation.

Materials: OMH-RC offers information, publications, mailing lists, database searches, referrals, and more for African-American, Asian, Hispanic/Latino, Native American/Alaska Native, and Pacific Islander populations. OMH-RC publishes the newsletter Closing the Gap.

Mission: To decrease the prevalence of adverse health outcomes in veterans with diabetes by ensuring that each patient at each facility has access to preventive and treatment programs that meet national standards of care.

Materials: VHA Diabetes Clinical Practice Guidelines is a comprehensive, evidence-based document that incorporates information from several existing, national consensus, evidence-based guidelines into a format that maximally facilitates clinical decisionmaking. An algorithmic format was chosen because of evidence that such a format improves data collection and diagnostic and therapeutics decisionmaking and changes patterns of resource use. Guidelines were developed in six major subject areas: glycemic control, foot care, eye care, hypertension, lipids, and renal disease. A computer version of the algorithm is under discussion.

Professional and Voluntary Associations

Mission: The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists is an international organization representing physicians devoted to enhancing the field of clinical endocrinology. Its primary goal is to provide an avenue for the study of the scientific, social, political, and economic aspects of endocrinology consistent with maintaining the highest levels of patient care and the highest standards of medical practice.

Materials: AACE publishes a peer-reviewed scientific journal, Endocrine Practice. The organization also publishes The First Messenger newsletter and other timely publications, such as practice guidelines, to keep members abreast of scientific developments and news.

Mission: To advance the role of the diabetes educator and improve the quality of diabetes education and care.

Materials: AADE publishes The Diabetes Educator, a bimonthly journal for multidisciplinary members of the diabetes healthcare team. The journal publishes the latest diabetes education research along with valuable teaching tools and techniques. AADE also produces the most comprehensive diabetes education resource, A Core Curriculum for Diabetes Education, now in its third edition. AADE members receive AADE News, providing association-related news and practice information, nine times per year. Call AADE for a complete listing of all educational products, including publications, videotapes, and patient materials, available through the association.

Mission: To prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of everyone affected by diabetes.

Materials: The American Diabetes Association publishes many books and resources for health professionals and people with diabetes. In addition, it publishes several magazines and journals. Diabetes Forecast is a monthly magazine for people with diabetes. Diabetes, Diabetes Care, and Diabetes Spectrum are professional journals. For further details and ordering information on ADA's publications, contact the American Diabetes Association, Order Fulfillment Dept., P.O. Box 930850, Atlanta, GA 31193-0850; (800) 232-6733; or see http://www.diabetes.org/Publications.

Mission: To serve the public through the promotion of optimal nutrition, health, and well-being.

Materials: The American Dietetic Association publishes a monthly professional journal, The Journal of the American Dietetic Association, and a monthly newsletter, ADA Courier. In addition, it publishes many books and other resources for consumers and professionals.

Mission: To provide research grants, patient and public education, Government relations, and patient support group activities.

Materials: AFUD publishes an informational brochure about the organization; Family Urology, a quarterly newsletter; and several patient education brochures.

Mission: To serve the professional needs and promote the standards and ethics of doctors of podiatric medicine and their services to the public.

Materials: APMA publishes a monthly magazine, APMA News; a monthly journal, Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association; and a diabetes-specific booklet, Your Podiatric Physician Talks About Diabetes, along with many other brochures on various foot health topics.

Mission: To support and promote education and scientific research to enhance the quality of life for all people affected by diabetes.

Materials: Provides exercise videos designed for people with diabetes. Publishes the booklet Diabetes Self-Management: Basics and Beyond.

Mission: The Endocrine Society works to promote excellence in research, education, and the clinical practice of endocrinology. The Endocrine Society works to foster a greater understanding of endocrinology among the general public and practitioners of complementary medical disciplines, and to promote the interests of all endocrinologists at the national scientific research and health policy levels of Government.

Materials: The Endocrine Society publishes four professional journals: Endocrinology, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, Endocrine Reviews, and Molecular Endocrinology. Another publication, The Clinical Endocrinology Update Syllabus, provides practicing endocrinologists with a review of the diagnosis and management of all major components of contemporary endocrinology.

Mission: To bring together people concerned with diabetes through their professional or personal lives and use their combined strengths to further issues of importance to people with diabetes; to serve as a federation of diabetes associations in 114 countries around the world, in official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

Materials: The IDF publishes The IDF Newsletter; The IDF Bulletin; Together We Are Stronger, a guide to building successful diabetes associations; and Lowering the Price of Ignorance, a world view on diabetes education.

Mission: To enhance the quality of life for people with diabetes through exercise.

Materials: The Challenge is IDAA's quarterly newsletter. IDAA also provides pamphlets on diabetes and exercise.

Mission: To support and fund research to find a cure for diabetes and its complications. The Juvenile Diabetes Foundation is a nonprofit, voluntary health agency.

Materials: JDF publishes the quarterly journal Countdown and a series of patient education brochures about type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Mission: The National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators (NCBDE) is dedicated to promoting excellence in the field of diabetes education through the development, maintenance, and protection of the Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) credential and the certification process.

Materials: NCBDE publishes the Certification Program for Diabetes Educators, a brochure that contains information about eligibility requirements and the certification examination.

Mission: The purpose of the NGSP is to standardize glycohemoglobin test results so that clinical laboratory results are comparable to those reported in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT), where relationships to mean blood glucose and risk for vascular complications have been established. A key component of the program is the Reference Laboratory Network. The network interacts with manufacturers of glycohemoglobin methods to assist them first in standardizing their methods and then in providing comparison data for certification of traceability to the DCCT.

Mission: To eradicate all diseases of the kidney and urinary tract. To seek the means to prevent kidney disease, while ensuring that individuals with disease receive the finest care.

Materials: NKF has several publications including The Kidney, American Journal of Kidney Diseases, CNSW Perspectives, CRN Quarterly, CNNT Action Update, and NKF Family Focus. Additional patient and public education materials are available.

Mission: To increase knowledge and understanding of pedorthics and its practice, to encourage development of new pedorthic tools and techniques, and to foster the professional development of pedorthic practitioners.

Materials: PFA publishes the bimonthly magazine Current Pedorthics, formerly called Pedoscope; the brochures Pedorthics: Foot Care Through Proper Footwear and Diabetes & Pedorthics: Conservative Foot Care; reference guides; and manuals.

Private Organizations

Mission: To improve the quality of life of individuals with diabetes and those at risk of developing diabetes by undertaking clinical care, education, research, and outreach activities that stimulate and support health. IDC also seeks to improve the health care delivery system by continually developing, implementing, and evaluating outcomes of diabetes management.

Materials: IDC has a wide range of publications for people with diabetes and diabetes educators, including books, booklets and planners, and a curriculum for type 2 diabetes.

Mission: To provide medical treatment for people with diabetes, to do research related to all facets of diabetes, and to provide medical education.