Mi Familia was founded in 2008. The program assists those who have Type 2 Diabetes with education and early treatment and strives to prevent children from getting diabetes like their parents.
High school interns, college students, and program participants work in partnership with the bi-lingual health educator and dietitian to implement and offer the program every week. The participants help and learn to improve their own health and the health of their family.
95% of all the diabetics in the United States have Type 2 diabetes and by 2050, 1 in 3 people may have diabetes. In addition to being one of the fastest growing chronic diseases (38.4 million people in 2021) and top 10 causes of death, it is also very costly to our society when left untreated. In 2023, $412.9 billion was the total estimated cost of diagnosed diabetes in the United States.
*Source: American Diabetes Association
The CDC also reports that Hispanic individuals are significantly more likely to have undiagnosed diabetes and hypertension, leading to delays in treatment and disease management, exacerbated complications, and, in many cases, premature death. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that, in 2022, Latinos were 60% more likely than non-Hispanic whites to be diagnosed with diabetes, and in 2020, they were 1.5 times more likely to die from diabetes and more than twice as likely to be hospitalized for end-stage renal disease caused by diabetes. Based on our own experience at WFC, we have found that about 40% of those we screen for diabetes/hypertension through our outreaches in community settings have high blood pressure and/or high blood glucose without knowing it.
