The View From Here

Outreach specialists at Kaweah Delta Hospital in Visalia deal with crises every day. They connect high-need clients with services that will keep them out of the ER and put them on the path to self-sufficiency.

Every dollar spent on prevention today could save $5 in future health care costs. Community health innovators in California and Mexico apply strategies and technologies to help people become more resilient and require less medical care.

Chia Chao Lo, a Laotian emigrant, was diagnosed with diabetes in 1985. He says food and physical activity is different in the U.S. His son Fi Dan Lo is a public health educator who teaches Hmong emigrants about disease prevention.

Registered dietician Cathy Carmichael leads talking circles to improve health outcomes for Native Americans with diabetes. But behavior change is not so easy. Eddie Mendez lost a limb and his kidneys failed before he made healthier choices.

Carolyn Jackson was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes during a pregnancy. Soon she needed insulin and now attends kidney dialysis three times a week. Members of the African American community have one of the highest rates of the disease.

Type 2 diabetes is hitting hardest in communities of color, where access to health care and healthy choices can be limited by income, education and geography. Across California, culturally-based approaches are lengthening and saving lives.