Despite numerous attempts at preventing and treating diabetes, the subject matter still remains an essential topic in 21st-century healthcare (Fulton Community Health Care Center, 2014). The allocation of the financial resources available, however, leaves much to be desired, as the programs aimed at spreading awareness concerning the threats of diabetes, as well as the factors that enhance its development, do not receive as much funding as they deserve (Johnson, 2014).
The program in question, i.e., the Diabetes Assistance Program, is obviously aimed at providing unflinching support to the patients that have been diagnosed with diabetes. As far as the ascertainable objectives of the project are concerned, however, it seems that the strategy in question lacks clarity. Specifically, the funding for diabetes in general and spreading awareness concerning diabetes, in particular, does not seem to create an auspicious environment for the provision of proper healthcare services. According to the official financial statement issued by the Fulton County Healthcare Department, $2,971,528 has been supplied for the enhancement of healthcare services (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). A rather modest part of this sum, however, has been used for the purposes of diabetes treatment and prevention.
As a result, not all stakeholders involved may enjoy an auspicious environment for diabetes awareness and treatment enhancement. The patients, which are clearly the key stakeholders, may be deprived of the opportunity to learn more about the disease and the means to fight or prevent it. The funding, however, allows for updating the equipment and creating a more elaborate system of tests, therefore, increasing the chances for diabetes patients to fight the disease (Suarez, Lesneski, & Denison, 2011).
Denying the fact that the Fulton County Healthcare supports the programs related to diabetes, however, would be wrong – the local healthcare services have designed a range of strategies, which allow for a terse yet very informative introduction to the key concepts of diabetes prevention and treatment options. However, a closer look at the implementation of these programs will reveal that the budget for the latter is quite small and that a better allocation of the key costs will be pertinent. For example, the 2012 grant received from the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation and estimating $ 25,000 could have been used for designing a new approach towards spreading awareness concerning diabetes, as well as the implementation of new ways of treating the disease. Moreover, reports show that the organization has made an impressive foot forward in facilitating the access to information concerning diabetes treatment and prevention for the specified denizens of the U.S. population (Shi & Johnson, 2014a).
Though the efforts that have been put into promoting awareness regarding diabetes treatment and prevention have been implemented in a rather dexterous manner, the current strategy for allocating the financial resources available is far from perfect. It would be much more adequate to focus on short-term goals, such as the increase in awareness rates among the target population. Focusing on making the information concerning diabetes available among the residents of the Fulton community may become the watershed moment that will improve health rates among the denizens of the community (Shi & Johnson, 2014).
Therefore, to make the current system of information transfer to the target audience more pliable, it will be an adequate solution to the ditches in the healthcare system of the state (Public Health Finance and Management, 2014). The project in question, thus, needs to be funded as the preeminent tool for informing the residents of the area under consideration on the issue of diabetes and the methods of its treatment. Among the potential funding resources, charity organizations such as Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (About the foundation, 2014) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2014) can be suggested, as they will help enhance the technological aspect of the programs (Grants.gov, n. d.) and, therefore, create the premises for greater amount of people to enroll into the program.
Reference List
About the foundation. (2014). Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Web.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). CDC announces FY 2014 funding awards for chronic disease prevention and health promotion. CDC. Web.
Fulton Community Health Care Center. (2014). Diabetes education. Fulton Community Health Care Center. Web.
Grants.gov. (n. d.). About Grants.gov. Web.
Johnson, T. D. (2014). Prevention and public health fund paying off in communities: Success threatened by cuts to fund. Web.
Public Health Finance and Management. (n. d.). Web.
Shi, L., & Johnson, J. A. (2014). Novick and Morrow’s public health administration: Principles for population-based management (3rd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Shi, L., & Johnson, J. A. (2014a). Public Health Finance. Novick and Morrow’s public health administration: Principles for population-based management (pp. 181–199) (3rd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Suarez, V., Lesneski, C., & Denison, D. (2011). Making the case for using financial indicators in local public health agencies. American Journal of Public Health, 101(3), 419–425.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2014). Grants/funding. Web.