April 17,2025

T1D Exchange (T1DX) Health Equity Advancement Lab (HEAL) Meeting:

April 17, 2025, 1-2 pm ET, Zoom

Participants:

Shideh Majidi, Jenise Wong, Jody Grundman, Carla Demeterco, Jen Raymond, Anyanate Gwendolyne Jack, Selorm Dei- Tutu, Kajal Gandhi, Ashley Butler, Nicole Rioles, Trevon Wright

Agenda:

Manuscript Opportunity

• The group is considering writing a manuscript based on the HEAL survey questions about the workforce.
• The manuscript could focus on workforce considerations to improve health for people with type 1 diabetes, grounded in the Exchange’s Quality Improvement Equity Framework.
• The manuscript could center on step two of the framework: building an equitable project team to address disparities.
• The group wants to review literature on programs/quality improvement projects addressing disparities, focusing on team members’ skills/roles in addressing disparities.
• Another suggestion was to discuss the role of institutional and structural support in achieving health equity, as institutional support can influence the success of diabetes/endocrine clinics in this area.
• The focus should remain on providing the same services and resources, even if the wording needs to be adjusted.

2024 Survey Data

• The goal is to describe the racial/ethnic makeup and job titles of staff in responding clinics.
• The speaker wants to compare the literature’s recommendations for job titles/expertise needed to address disparities with the actual workforce composition from the survey.
• The Exchange provided data by adult and pediatric centers, including data on patients with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.
• Data includes the percentage of diabetes center staff and patients from minoritized racial/ethnic groups, as well as staff FTE (full-time equivalency).
• FTE data is analyzed as the ratio of providers to patients, categorized by physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, social workers, and registered nurses.

Preferred Language and Health Equity

• The T1D exchange is working on preferred language, and the group is asked to discuss language around health equity.
• There are different types of terms to consider, such as using first-person language when talking about people with diabetes.
• One example of preferred language is using “minoritized groups” instead of “minority.”
• Consider including a footnote describing the term chosen for the manuscript and recognizing other ways to describe the group.
• Navigating Current Climate and Research Funding
• Consider how to make research applicable and avoid having it rejected due to specific words.
• There’s a sense that NIH is discouraging the use of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) terms, though not officially.
• Frame the work around “health for all” and the steps needed to achieve positive health outcomes for everyone.
• Equity in language should be included in discussions about specificity in terminology. Terms like “high risk” can be ambiguous and negative, leading to labeling.

2025 Survey Questions

• The group will email out the 2025 survey questions due to time constraints.
• Questions will cover topics discussed in the last meeting, such as:
  • Where else to lean into if federal funding streams are uncertain.
  • What other partnerships to lean into.
  • Compensation methods.
• Questions about partnerships:
  • Who partners with community organizations in the exchange/collaboration?
  • Which community organizations are involved (open to all, local, hyper-local)?
  • How powerhouses like Breakthrough T1D step into the gaps.

Multidisciplinary Partnerships & Public Health

• Clarification needed for the term “multidisciplinary partnerships” in the survey.
• It refers to different job titles within a group (e.g., dietitians, physicians, behavioral health).
• Communication and work with public health is important.
• Public health divisions reach out to insurance companies for resources.
• Questions should address communication with public health and efforts to find resources for publicly insured people with diabetes.

PowerPoint Slides: HEAL April 2025 Meeting

Meeting Recording: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/DtSIQnA_DUrf_MR1Ns7mvwnm7039Sdjl4XrSCUvjUrFjCVu72B3Iyt3KOtB3Ggok.larienZDGHAkOUjw

Passcode: Qqb@!3r&