In September 1994, the Executive Director of The
University of Texas System Texas-Mexico Border Health Coordination
Office (TMBHCO), (now known as The University of Texas-Pan American
Border Health Office) (UTPA BHO), coordinated a study to determine
if a need existed to establish a Diabetes Registry in the Rio Grande
Valley (RGV), which includes Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr and Willacy
Counties. The request was originated by interest and concern expressed
by the Rio Grande Valley Diabetes Task Force. The former TMBHCO
and the Texas Diabetes Council combined efforts to conduct a feasibility
study to determine the viability of a Diabetes Registry of persons
diagnosed with diabetes. The assessment provided evidence that a
need and desire existed for the development of such a registry.
For the project, a REGISTRY was defined as documents containing
uniform information about individual persons, collected in a systematic
manner, which serves a predetermined mission. The operation did
not require complete ascertainment of compreshensiveness of the
population to accommodate a registry. This would not be a classical
epidemiological registry, but rather, a voluntary registry.
The feasability study concluded that the RGV community
had a unique health status and stood to benefit from an active multi-purpose
Diabetes Registry that used various methods including surveillance,
intervention, research,
and education (SIRE)
procedures. Consultations and review of literature guided the process
and guided the project to formulate procedures to establish and
maintain an active record of persons diagnosed with diabetes. It
became evident that a cooperative network of physicians, community
health clinics, hospitals, pharmacies, educators, allied health
personnel and other health care providers with linkages to each
other and to the database should also be validating a data collection
system and identifying data sources. Issues of coding data, interpreting
reports, abstracting and retrieving data, "combing" through
files and cross referencing materials were appraised, discussed
and evaluated. Methods that included medical and/or educational
strategies were developed for the RGV population.
The Executive Director of the former TMBHCO requested
guidance and recommendations from several health professionals familiar
with diabetes as to the procedures necessary to establish and maintain
a Diabetes Registry and on the necessary items to include in a data
collection instrument. Responses and recommenedations from these
various institutions and personnel were collected and summarized.
The BHO established an advisory group that composed of representatives
from the American Diabetes Association, McAllen Medical Center,
the Texas Department of Health, The University of Texas-Pan American,
Hidalgo County Health Department, Texas Diabetes Council, Knapp
Medical Center, The University of Texas at Houston Health Science
Center and the Texas Diabetes Institute. The group agreed to formulate
goals and objectives, develop operating procedures, identify and
recruit data sources, develop a strategic plan and pilot a study.
Today, the UTPA BHO continues on with the project
with help of health fairs, elementary school support, and various
other community involvement.
Mission
The mission
of the UTPA Border Health Office Diabetes Registry is to reduce
the diabetes hardship through prevention and control of the disease
and its complications along the Texas - Mexico border by employing
a system of Surveillance, Intervention,
Research and Education
methods.
Goals
To establish
a health care cooperative network to conduct public health Surveillance
of persons diagnosed with diabetes.
To coordinate
and promote Intervention methods
among persons diagnosed with diabetes and health care providers.
To promote
Research to determine epidemiology,
etiology, and the natural history of diabetes.
To create
Education awareness and provide
it to patients, academicians, epidemiologists, program administrators,
educators, health care providers, and the general public concerned
with diabetes.
Surveillance
Persons
with diabetes are asked to fill out a Diabetes Registry Form. Most
of these forms are collected at health fairs convened at public
schools.
Intervention
The
diabetes burden cannot be reduced without addressing the needs and
concerns of those diagnosed and those at risk for the disease. Therefore,
the Diabetes Registry had identified and coordinated various intervention
programs.
Research
Information
about health status and diabetes complications are obtained from
the Diabetes Registry Form.
Education
An
important step in reducing the diabetes burden is education. It
has long been assessed that an increase in education promotes an
increase in health status. Diabetes education is one of the most
recommended and most frequented non-direct interventions.
Other Information
We
also provide educational materials for various age groups including
the Diabetes
Registry brochure
and theDinobetes
comic strip for kids. The brochure provides educational information
concerning the disease as well a registry form which you can fill
out and submit to us. The comic strip provides crucial information
about diabetes in an entertaining format. We are available for trainings
and educational talks. Contact
our office for these and any other materials you would like
to know more about.
Statistical information about the diabetes registry
is also available. We have information covering the estimated populations
by county in the Rio Grande Valley as well as the estimated prevalence
rates. You may view these on the Statistics
page.
Please visit our general
health page where you will find general information on diabetes,
its causes and how to manage the disease. Here you will also learn
nutritional information including making heathier choices. Finally,
a health and wellness section is included to help you live a better
and healthier lifestyle. If you are looking for material on a diabetes
resource tool, please check out the Texas Department of State Health
Services website. They have a diabetes
tool kit for a good resource on diabetes.
