Develop a Quality, Sustainable, Diabetes Prevention Program in Your State: Impacts of a webinar series of the Cooperative Extension National DPP Interest Group

Purpose: This presentation will describe the process and outcomes of a continuing education webinar series developed by a national collaboration of Extension professionals, the Cooperative Extension National Diabetes Prevention Program Interest Group (CE-NDPP). Objectives are to detail the steps for developing and marketing webinar series, the technology for executing the series, and methods for evaluating outcomes. Best practices and lessons learned for managing interstate collaborations for program development will be discussed. Description: Diabetes is a growing health problem in the United States. To change the trajectory of diabetes the CDC established the National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP)—a public-private initiative to offer evidence-based, cost effective community interventions to prevent type 2 diabetes. Cooperative Extension is a natural partner for the National DPP, due to its vast reach and educational mission. The CE-NDPP was formed in 2016 to expand the capacity of state Extension Systems to conduct the National DPP. The quality support sub-committee of the CE-NDPP develops web-based tools and educational opportunities to help Extension personnel develop and conduct of the NDPP in their state. Digital and mobile technologies have emerged as important resources for self-directed learning. , Among the technology options, webinars are the most popular. They provide focused content and address barriers to access due to geography, time, funding and subject-matter experts.
Methods: A four-session series, National Diabetes Prevention Program: Develop a quality, sustainable Extension program in your state, was produced in 2019. Content experts were recruited, and webinars conducted and recorded using Zoom. Electronic post-webinar surveys evaluated satisfaction, knowledge gained, applicability, and additional education needs. Webinars included: 1) Get Them to Come, Get Them to Stay: Marketing, recruitment, and retention strategies that work, 2) Ensuring National DPP outcomes: Tools and processes that help, 3) Best Practices for Effecting Behavior Change in National DPP Participants, 4) Adapting the National DPP for Diverse Audiences. Outcomes: Webinars were viewed by 153 individuals from 28 states. Attendees included Extension specialists and agents/educators (70%), administrators (9%), other Extension personnel (14%), and non-Extension (7%). Over half (53%) had not yet conducted a NDPP. All respondents felt webinars were valuable, and the vast majority (>90%) indicated they would apply the information to their work. Relevance to Attendees: Attendees will learn best practices for developing and marketing educational webinars, forming and maintaining interstate collaborations, and resources available through the CE-NDPP.