Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Challenge

Innovative approaches to help prevent type 2 diabetes developed in partnership with communities in Canada

Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases affecting Canadians. It is characterized by the body's inability to produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Diabetes is associated with a variety of symptoms and potential complications, including increased risk of infection and chronic kidney disease. In addition, people affected by diabetes often experience stigma, depression and anxiety.

Over 3 million Canadians, or 8.9% of the population, have been diagnosed with diabetes. Type 2 diabetes accounts for approximately 90% of diabetes cases in Canadian adults. Genetic and modifiable risk factors influence the development of type 2 diabetes over time. While some risk factors cannot be changed, such as genetic factors, others risk factors related to healthy eating or physical activity can be modified. Often, these modifiable risk factors can only be addressed after accounting for the conditions in which people grow, work, live and age – they depend on the intersecting social, economic, and environmental determinants of health. This Challenge is specifically focused on type 2 diabetes, as it has the potential to be prevented by addressing these modifiable risk factors and the determinants of health that influence them.

PHAC is looking for concepts or innovative approaches that can remove the barriers to addressing the risks that lead to developing type 2 diabetes, particularly those that address the determinants of health in communities with an already higher risk.

Each community in Canada has a unique context that influences the risk of developing diabetes, and this context also influences a unique set of strengths and skills for the community. We are asking innovators and communities to partner, or for communities to lead an innovative approach, to identify and implement approaches that are bespoke to the needs and strengths of community. Through such inter-sectoral partnerships, exemplifying collaboration, compassion, and respect, we are seeking concepts that expand on the knowledge and achievements of communities in Canada to find approaches that not only help prevent type 2 diabetes but are meaningful to community members. Furthermore, such innovative approaches serve as a template to be adapted in other communities or contexts in Canada, and as a template for addressing other chronic diseases in Canada that are influenced by similar barriers and risk factors.

Whether your concept is an early idea or one that you have been developing for some time, we are looking for those that have the highest potential to impact type 2 diabetes prevention in communities that are at an elevated risk for it - successful applicants will have a chance to develop their concept before implementing it. Concepts submitted to this Challenge can be brand new for the community in which it is deployed, or a new application of a previously successful approach that may or may not have to do with diabetes (but it must not replicate existing initiatives/projects already in place in a community). To help interrupt the trajectory towards developing type 2 diabetes, we are also looking for concepts that address these barriers and risks most relevant to community members before they require entry into the medical system.

Why build on community strengths?

Canada has a diverse number of communities, each with their own unique knowledge, traditions, and expertise. These are built by the experiences of how community members live, work, and spend leisure time, as well as how community members share beliefs and collaborate towards united goals. Communities where members have a strong sense of connection to each other can have an environment of trust and genuineness, and with the right resources and conditions, can use that environment to collectively and creatively leverage their respective community’s strengths to address the most issues important issues that impact them. For communities disproportionately impacted by type 2 diabetes, this Challenge creates the structure for a strength-based approach whereby communities can use their cohesiveness and creativity, with their partners, to address type 2 diabetes. It ensures that the community is involved in continuous shaping, strategy, and implementation of an innovative approach that respects what is highest value to the community and that the approach utilizes the philosophies and practices to which community members prescribe. Through the Challenge, new mutual partnerships between communities and non-traditional partners will be catalyzed, creating new ways to use resources, supports, and ideas to better reach individuals and help prevent type 2 diabetes.