“A Series of Hope” Campaign Continues with Diabetes-Focused Video & Material
The SCHA Foundation has been partnering with the St. Mark United Methodist Church of Taylors, SC in an effort to improve health awareness in communities of color in South Carolina. Entitled “A Series of Hope,” each video and accompanying discussion material in the series aims to address a specific health risk facing these groups. It’s well documented that heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and stroke are the leading causes of death for Black Americans and other communities of color. Black communities often have more limited access to healthcare resources and education. A Series of Hope stories can be used in discussions with local churches, schools, health clinics, and other community organizations.
The first installment released in 2021 looked at cancer, while the latest video in the series tackles diabetes. Diabetes is a chronic disease that affects more than 34 million children, teens and adults living in the United States and this number continues to rise every year. And while diabetes affects people of all races and ethnicities, African Americans are 60% more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes than non-Hispanic white Americans. The video tells the story of Margaret “Mickey Talley” Grayson, who lives with Type 2 diabetes, and her daughter Vardrey Williams, who was diagnosed with gestational diabetes as a young expecting mother and would later undergo gastric sleeve surgery to avoid the complications of diabetes and high blood pressure.
Watch the video below, which also has accompanying discussion materials, to see how the series uses these stories to increase health awareness and personalize the challenges and risks of a disease like diabetes.