The Chronic Conditions Care Collaborative (4C Collaborative): A Platform for Improving Diabetes and Heart Disease Outcomes in Rural South Carolina.

Rural U.S. counties experience racial, geographic, and socioeconomic disparities in chronic diseases.

Challenges of EHR "Meaningful Use" in Rural Health Centers.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to promote the utilization of electronic health records (EHRs) to support population health management and reduce disparities. However, access to EHRs with capabilities to disaggregate data or generate digital dashboards is not always readily available in rural areas. With funding from CDC's DP-18-1815, the Division of Diabetes and Heart Disease Management (Division) at the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control designed a quality improvement initiative to reduce health disparities for people with hypertension and high blood cholesterol in rural areas.

Associations Between Social Vulnerability and Providing Evidence-Based Diabetes Prevention and Management Activities in South Carolina, 2019.

We assessed associations between social vulnerability (ie, external stressors negatively affecting communities) and the provision of evidence-based diabetes prevention and management activities (eg, National Diabetes Prevention Program) in South Carolina counties with high burdens of diabetes and heart disease. These associations were examined by using relative risk estimation by Poisson regression with robust error variance. Results suggest that social vulnerability may have differential effects on the provision of evidence-based diabetes prevention and management activities in South Carolina.

Expanding Applicability of Presentations at Public Health Conferences.

As public health practitioners and program evaluators for a state health department, we look forward to public health conferences for the opportunity to hear from leaders in the field and inform our own practice. While we feel that most presentations describe the work and why it matters, many of us leave sessions thinking, "Now what?" In other words, how do we apply what we learned to public health practice? As American Public Health Association (APHA) looks to celebrate its 150th year in 2022, now is an ideal time to focus on expanding the impact of our work. We offer several suggestions for how conference presenters can make their work more applicable to public health practitioners.

Assessment of Chronic Disease Management Strategies Among Health Care Practices in Medically Underserved South Carolina Counties.

Diabetes and heart disease are among the leading causes of death and disability in the United States, and these conditions are especially prevalent in the South. South Carolina's persistent racial and socioeconomic disparities in chronic disease outcomes are well-documented, yet little is known about how health care practices in medically underserved areas are addressing these challenges. Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey as part of two complementary 5-year cooperative agreements between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Division of Diabetes and Heart Disease Management (the Division) at the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Expanding Opportunities for Data Dissemination Through Collaborative Writing Teams in Public Health Practice Settings.

Government health departments at all levels make meaningful contributions to advancing the public health of communities, yet state health departments lack the time and infrastructure to share their findings with the broader scientific community. To address this gap in data dissemination, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control developed a "collaborative writing team" (CWT) pilot. As part of this pilot program, teams of staff members leveraged existing data to advance the public health knowledge base, with an emphasis on public health practice.