Project ALTO-D: Saving Lives from 20 Years Ago to Today
Once Upon a Class
Around 2019, San Fernando Community Health Center’s CEO Audrey Simons stopped into the first meeting of a Project ALTO-D class to say hello. One of the students was a woman so overweight she needed canes to walk. A failed knee surgery had restricted the diabetic woman’s mobility. She was only in her late thirties or early forties, but she didn’t expect to live much longer, and depression had set in. “When you have a chronic disease,” Simons explains, “depression is probably part and parcel of it…To be in your early-to-mid thirties and have a physician say to you, this is something you're going to have to cope with the rest of your life…if that's not depression-causing, I don't know what is.”
Why “Alto” Instead of “Stop”
The woman’s situation is a real risk among Hispanics in the United States, who are 60% more likely to develop diabetes than non-Hispanic adults. This is due in part to how closely Hispanic culture relates traditional dishes to family. Simons says diabetic patients “don't like to be told that they can never eat anything that reminds them of what their grandmother used to feed them.” And their abuela’s specialties often contain high amounts of carbohydrates, which raise blood sugar. The other reason for the statistic is that Hispanics usually have lower incomes and less access to healthcare than other groups. Because of this obstacle, they’re less likely to get regular screenings or treatment for diabetes.
Knowledge for All
Simons was part of the team that created Project ALTO-D—Alerting Latinos To Overcome Diabetes—in 2006. The program is eight weeks of classes that teach adults 18 and over ways to self-manage their diabetes. These include:
Understanding basic nutrition
Setting goals
Managing your stress
Adding physical activity to your routine
Using medications, both to manage diabetes and to prevent it from getting out of control
Each class is two hours, but additional guidance is available if you need it. SFCHC’s health educators and Community Health Workers (CHWs) are available outside of class and after the course is done. They can provide information on further resources, confirm education classes and medical appointments, and even become your health coaches.
Project ALTO-D addresses some of the biggest barriers to diabetes prevention by making it easy to get help. Included in the class is screening for diabetes, and if needed, referral for treatment. The class is offered in English or Spanish and in multiple locations in the San Fernando Valley:
SFCHC
Parks and recreation areas
LAUSD sites
Churches
Community-based organization sites
Best of all, the class is completely free—whether you’re an SFCHC patient or not!
A Happy Ending
Months later, a woman stood in the doorway of Simons’ office, having sought her out personally. It was the overweight woman from Project ALTO-D, but as Simons remembers, “I didn't recognize her, she had lost so much weight and there were no canes. I was just blown away.” The women tearfully told her that she felt her life had been saved. To Simons, the story is only one of how Project ALTO-D empowers patients to save themselves: “I’m very, very proud of that.”
