California Area Office

This site provides a brief introduction to the Indian Health Service California Area Office (IHS CAO) Diabetes Program.  Diabetes is a significant health issue among American Indian / Alaska Native (AI/AN) people and each IHS Area has an Area Diabetes Consultant (ADC).  The goal of the IHS CAO Diabetes Program is to improve the health status of AI/AN people by supporting diabetes care and diabetes prevention efforts at Indian Health programs in California. 

In 1997, Congress appropriated funds for the Special Diabetes Programs for Indians (SDPI) grant program.  More than 30 tribal and urban Indian health programs in California receive SDPI grant funding every year.  SDPI programs implement activities based on diabetes care and prevention Best Practices.  The CAO Diabetes Program assists health programs in development of care management systems, effective population health strategies, development of multi-disciplinary diabetes teams, and quality improvement methodology.  Each SDPI program submits the IHS Annual Diabetes Care and Outcomes Report which is based on IHS Diabetes Standards of Care.  Using Diabetes Audit data, improvements in diabetes care can be evaluated locally, by IHS Area, and Nationally.