Being a Diabetes Prevention Lifestyle Coach 

Diabetes Statistics 

Almost 98 million American adults have prediabetes, which is nearly 40% of the U.S. population (1). Sadly, most of them don’t even know they have it (2). Without consistent lifestyle interventions, it will eventually turn into diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association, diabetes costs the country about $413 billion annually, which has increased by 35% over a recent 10-year period (3). This financial burden is expected to increase in the future as more Americans are diagnosed with it.  

 

Solving the Diabetes Burden 

To curb this burden, the NIH and the CDC conducted a randomized clinical trial, which started in 1996, to see whether lifestyle interventions or medication (metformin) would reverse prediabetes and prevent or delay it from turning into diabetes. They initially conducted the trial with over three thousand participants in 27 centers, where they were randomized into three different interventions: lifestyle modification, medication, and the control group (placebo). They found that lifestyle interventions reduced the rate of diabetes by 58%! Since then, multiple follow-up studies have been conducted around the world, including countries in Europe, Asia, and Australia, with similar results (4, 5). 

 

From this pivotal trial, the National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) emerged and evolved into what it is today. The DPP program is a year-long curriculum where a group of participants meet regularly to discuss topics in making lifestyle changes. There are 26 modules where each module discusses different topics including healthy eating, movement, stress management, and managing holidays and vacations. A trained DPP Lifestyle Coach facilitates and coaches the participants in making lifestyle changes by creating SMART goals. The group format encourages and supports participants in making those changes. If the participants follow the program the way it’s designed, by the end of the year, they may lose 5% or more of their starting weight and consistently engage in 150 minutes of moderate-intensity weekly exercise. By doing so, participants usually see favorable lab values where their A1C decreases, potentially to normal levels of less than 5.7%.  

 

DPP Lifestyle Coach Training 

To become a certified DPP Lifestyle Coach, a person must take a certification program from one of the thirteen CDC-approved organizations that provide this type of training. These organizations train coaches in how to use the CDC-approved DPP curriculum, use motivational interviewing techniques, and successfully run groups. Some of the organizations also provide training to be a Master Trainer so they can train their employees at their own company (6). 

 

When I took my initial certification training through the State of Wellness, they offered it for free. The program lasted for two weeks and met twice a week for 90 minutes per class. Before our first class and in between each class, we had homework to complete. At our last session, we each ran an abbreviated DPP group session where our peers acted like the participants. This gave us an idea of what it would be like to run our own groups.  

 

Since I already had experience running groups, it was like riding an old familiar bike. Unlike my previous experiences where I had to come up with talking points to facilitate discussion, the CDC already has a detailed instructional manual for DPP Lifestyle Coaches. There is no guesswork and the program runs as intended so participants can achieve the expected outcomes as they did during the initial clinical trials. What’s more, all the information is publicly available online for free: www.cdc.gov/diabetes-prevention.  

 

Nowadays, many places offer the DPP program, including hospitals, clinics, insurance companies, the YMCA, and even churches. Some of these places offer it free of charge or as part of the employee benefits package. Before enrolling in the program, participants must answer a few questions to see if they meet the criteria for enrollment.   

 

Being a DPP Lifestyle Coach 

Soon after I got certified as a DPP Lifestyle Coach, I obtained a remote DPP Lifestyle Coaching position, where I did individual and group coaching remotely. The company had its own DPP Master Trainer that trained all its new hires thoroughly for a few weeks, so employees fully understood how the DPP program worked while utilizing their proprietary software and tools. 

 

Although I had some challenging conversations with participants, especially around diet culture, weight loss, and GLP1 medications, I thoroughly enjoyed being a DPP Lifestyle Coach. Many times, participants wanted to lose weight fast. I gently reminded them how the program worked and that going slow and steady would get them there faster. I also loved having a curriculum that encouraged making lifestyle changes and being able to refer participants to applicable lessons when they got stuck. The most frequently referred lessons centered around nutrition and stalled weight loss. 

 

Object Lesson 

The CDC DPP curriculum reminds me of the plan of salvation. After Adam and Eve sinned, the “[h]eavenly angels more fully opened to…[them]…the plan that had been devised for their salvation” (7). We didn’t have to guess how we would be saved. The Lord knew the challenges we would face and eventually gave us a curriculum (the Bible) that spelled it all out with lessons and stories to help us get through the sticky parts of our spiritual journey. (By the way, most of the modules in the DPP curriculum has a relatable story of a participant struggling with an issue, introduces an intervention, applies the intervention, and gives the results of overcoming that struggle.) Additionally, we have access to Coach Jesus, who coaches us step by step, in our individual coaching sessions (daily devotions) with Him. We also have group sessions (Sabbath School and small group Bible studies) where we get support to deal with our everyday struggles. Coach Jesus doesn’t do all the work on his own. He trains other coaches (pastors, elders, lay people, etc) to help Him finish the work. I truly believe health coaching is the right arm of the gospel, and it will help us to get into places that we would not be able to otherwise get access to so we can finish the work.