# Clinic to Community Connections: Enhancing Prenatal to Postpartum Care Transitions to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes in Low Income Women with Gestational Diabetes

> **NIH NIH K23** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $159,905

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Type 2 diabetes is a growing public health challenge and gestational diabetes predicts this preventable chronic
disease at an early age. Half of all women with gestational diabetes will go on to develop type 2 diabetes
without intervention. There are clear opportunities to intercede during and after pregnancy to prevent type 2
diabetes; however, it is difficult to operationalize these interventions in low resource settings and traditional
healthcare models. The purpose of this Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award is to
empower the candidate to develop a research program that uses innovative approaches to care delivery to
maximize diabetes prevention in vulnerable populations. To achieve this goal, mentorship and training in this
award are proposed to support: 1) additional training in methods of community-engaged research, intervention
development for pregnant and postpartum women, tailoring education materials for low health literacy,
implementation science, and pragmatic trial design; 2) protected time to conduct the planned patient-oriented
research; and 3) the collection and publication of preliminary data to facilitate the next steps in the research
program. The research plan in this award is supported by the career development plan and interdisciplinary
team of mentors, advisors and collaborators. The proposed work seeks to 1) develop and refine a diabetes
self-management education and medical nutrition therapy curriculum for low-income women with gestational
diabetes that can be delivered by clinic staff and community health workers; and 2) conduct a pilot trial of this
curriculum to assess reach, preliminary effectiveness, adoption, implementation fidelity, and maintenance. The
anticipated outcome of this study is high-quality pilot data that will provide the foundation for an R01 application
to conduct a larger pragmatic randomized controlled trial to assess effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and
sustainability of the intervention. We hypothesize that a community-engaged intervention delivered by
community health workers and clinic staff through the prenatal to postpartum transition of care will decrease
diabetes-related distress, increase diabetes knowledge and self-efficacy, and improve diabetes attitudes and
risk perception for the development of type 2 diabetes among women, ultimately enhancing post-partum
screening and follow-up care. If true, this care model could have a significant positive impact on care delivery
for populations in resource-limited settings. The training and research activities delineated in this proposal
complement the candidate’s background in clinical endocrinology and population health and will position her to
make substantial contributions to health care delivery systems change. Ultimately, this work will lead to new
models to improve care transitions and care coordination for diabetes prevention and care in our highest risk
populations.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9915955
- **Project number:** 5K23HD096204-02
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Cynthia J Herrick
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $159,905
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-04-15 → 2023-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9915955

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9915955, Clinic to Community Connections: Enhancing Prenatal to Postpartum Care Transitions to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes in Low Income Women with Gestational Diabetes (5K23HD096204-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9915955. Licensed CC0.

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