Diabetes. Stroke. Substance Use Disorder. Managing and preventing significant and pervasive health issues requires extensive, long-term education and support for both patients and providers.
The Temple Center for Population Health brings multidisciplinary specialists, local providers, and community partners together to address high-impact medical conditions that can have an outsize effect on population health.
Diabetes Prevention and Education
Lifestyle changes to prevent or control diabetes can have a major positive impact on health and lower a person’s risk for other chronic conditions. Part of the Philadelphia Diabetes Prevention Collaborative, Temple offers two signature programs to address diabetes risk and disease management among its patient population:
Diabetes Prevention Program
People with pre-diabetes may cut their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by more than 50% by taking part in a structured program focused on lifestyle change around fitness and healthy eating. Temple provides a year-long, small-group lifestyle coaching program in which pre-diabetic patients learn about healthy behavior changes, with the aim of increasing physical activity and reducing body weight. Classes are facilitated by Certified Community Health Workers and Nurses trained as Lifestyle Coaches.
Real-World Diabetes Program
Patients who already have diabetes are eligible to participate in Temple’s Real-World Diabetes Program, which empowers people to care for themselves and manage their diabetes for improved long-term health. A series of small-group classes (also offered individually via telehealth) offer peer discussion plus education by a Temple Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist on the basics of diabetes self-management, healthy cooking and dining, and tips for mental health and physical activity.
These programs are available for anyone who meets the criteria for prevention or management. Patients are often referred by Temple’s Community Health Workers, primary care providers, or our staff at community events. Learn more about Temple’s Diabetes Prevention and Education Programs.
Opioid Use Disorder and Recovery: The TRUST Clinic
With our North Philadelphia neighborhoods at the epicenter of the opioid crisis, the Temple Recovery Using Scientific Treatments (TRUST) Clinic provides a specialized, office-based treatment hub for patients with opioid use disorder, offering medication-assisted treatment with buprenorphine and a caring, non-judgmental environment. In addition, TRUST works with community organizations to help patients overcome the social challenges often intertwined with opioid use.
TRUST also supports local primary care physicians who care for patients with opioid use disorder, helping create a “medical neighborhood” with access to expertise, resources and evidence-based treatments, including pharmacologic treatment. Learn more about the TRUST Clinic.
Frazier Family Coalition for Stroke Education and Prevention
Stroke is a leading cause of death in Philadelphia—yet 80% of strokes are preventable. A Temple Health and Jefferson Health initiative, the Frazier Family Coalition for Stroke Education and Prevention addresses health disparities to reduce the incidence of stroke among at-risk populations in North Philadelphia, with a focus on four zip codes in the Allegheny West neighborhood.
Led by community health workers, the Coalition provides American Heart Association-approved, culturally sensitive stroke prevention and education to at-risk hypertensive individuals. A new wellness center connected with the program provides additional education on diet, exercise, smoking cessation, mental health, and other factors that lower an individual’s risk for a host of cardiovascular diseases, and will host clinics on topics that affect health, including eviction rights, applying for social security disability, and family law.
It is critical that our health systems address the disparities that impact underserved communities. Stroke disproportionately affects disadvantaged African American community members, and combined with poor access to education and healthcare, results in significantly poorer health outcomes. — Andréa and Ken Frazier
Temple Healthy Chest Initiative
While lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, survival rates could be greatly increased by early detection. Through the Temple Healthy Chest Initiative (THCI), Temple is making a coordinated effort to increase lung cancer screening, especially in underserved neighborhoods with higher lung cancer mortality rates and less access to routine screenings and care. THCI also leverages lung cancer screening to diagnose a host of other conditions detectable using a chest CT—from emphysema to esophageal disease to osteoporosis.
A collaboration among the Temple Lung Center, Fox Chase Cancer Center, and all Temple clinical locations, THCI deploys patient navigators and multidisciplinary follow-up to ensure that patients receive further diagnosis and care for potential lung tumors or any other chest-area condition that may require medical attention. Learn more about the Temple Healthy Chest Initiative.