Total Lifestyle Change (TLC) is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to eliminate health disparities in minority populations and was founded by Dr. Lenore Coleman.

Dr. Coleman has been a practicing pharmacist and diabetes educator for over 20 years. During her career, she has provided educational classes to thousands of consumers on cardiovascular disease, renal disease and diabetes. She has participated in community-based screenings for minority populations working in conjunction with the American Diabetes Association, American Red Cross, American Heart Association and Stroke Association.

TLC will provide much needed community outreach to minority populations with an emphasis of identifying and eliminating clinical risk factors for disease. Through her emphasis on wellness and prevention, TLC will begin to decrease the ethnic disparities, which currently plague our existing health care system.

Mission Statement:

Total Lifestyle Change (TLC) will support community outreach and education activities. Educational workshops will be targeted to health care professionals and "at-risk" populations. Topics will include cardiovascular disease, diabetes, renal disease, HIV/AIDS, breast and prostate cancer and Pain Management. Targeted populations will include African Americans, Latinos, Hawaiian Islanders, Native Americans and Asians. TLC will organize and implement educational symposiums and workshops for health care professionals providing information on disease states that disproportionately affect minority populations and culturally competent care. TLC will provide community based support groups, health screenings, community outreach activities and health information resources for the public.

Key Messages Related to Disease States being addressed:
TLC believes that minority populations are disproportionately affected by the following diseases and health care practices:

• Hypertension
• Diabetes
• Coronary Artery Disease
• Breast and Prostate Cancer
• HIV/AIDS
• Ineffective Pain Management

Reasons for the disparity are complex and multifaceted. Some of the key indices are poverty, lack of access to health care, low socio-economic status, discrimination, lack of available community resources, stressful lifestyle, poor nutrition, poor education, inadequate housing, low paying jobs and lack of health insurance, compounded by a lack of access to preventative health care.

TLC believes that through culturally based educational workshops, health care professionals will change their treatment practices and move toward more aggressive and effective treatment of hypertension, diabetes, coronary artery disease, acute and chronic pain, HIV/AIDS and cancer.

TLC believes that through a comprehensive community-based outreach education and screening program minority populations can begin to change lifestyle behaviors that predispose them to increased risk of morbidity and mortality from chronic diseases.

Health Care Professional Education Workshops / Symposiums
TLC will provide educational symposiums for health care providers on an on-going basis. These events will be used to educate physician, nurses, dieticians, and health educators on minority health issues. The program will be done in collaboration with the professional societies and/or organizations that are located in the Los Angeles area. (i.e. Drew Medical Society, Association of Black Women Physicians, Black Dietician Association, Black Nurses Association). The focus of the program will be an update on health issues that disproportionately affects minority populations (i.e. diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, cancer, HIV/AIDS and effective pain management. Presentation will be provided to physicians, nurses and health educators in the Northern and Southern California area.

Patient Support Groups:
Currently there are no patient support groups in the Greater Los Angeles area targeting African American and Latino populations. Clinical Studies have shown that people with chronic diseases need constant reinforcement of the self-management principles. Total Lifestyle Change (TLC) will organize and conduct patient support groups for patients with chronic diseases focusing on health, wellness and prevention. Meetings will be held at least quarterly and will be 2 hours in duration. Topics to be covered are include in Attachment A:
Patients will be given the opportunity to discuss barriers and challenges of their management with their peers with the guidance of a health educator. Health educators with an expertise in self-management will conduct the Patient Support Groups. Patient Support Groups are structured to meet the guidelines and recommendations of the American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, Academy on Pain Management, and the Center of Disease Control.

Community-Based Screening:
On August 21, 2001 the American College of Endocrinology (ACE) and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) released new guidelines on screening in high-risk groups. The age of diabetes screening was lowered to 30. This recommendation was based on the 33% increase in diabetes from 1990-1998 and a 76% increase among people aged 30-39.

Based on the need to increase the screening efforts in high-risk ethnic populations, TLC will conduct on-going screening events. These events will be used to identify those patients that have microalbuminuria, impaired glucose tolerance, impaired fasting glucose and/or diabetes. Screening will be performed in "at risk" populations that are disproportionately affected by renal disease, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The type of screening will include; urine test for microalbuminuria, random blood glucose, blood cholesterol, blood pressure, fitness test, body fat %. During the screening sessions educational materials will be provided along with information regarding local resource centers. Screening for HIV/AIDS, Prostate and Breast Cancer Screenings will be conducted at local churches, community centers and health care facilities and will occur over a 2-6 hour period. Screenings will be done by pharmacists, nurses, health educators and physicians in conjunction with other established non-profit organizations including Drew Medical Society, Association of Black Women Physician, Real Men Can Cook Foundations, Local and regional Fraternal and Sorority organizations.

Faith Based Community Education Programs - Project FAITH
Developed by Dr. Coleman, Project FAITH is a comprehensive education and behavior modification program aimed at increasing the awareness of and promoting lifestyle changes in minority populations regarding the chronic diseases that affect them disproportionately.