Driven by the Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center with support from other stakeholders involved in Cities Changing Diabetes - Houston, the Faith & Diabetes Initiative aims to empower diverse faith communities in Greater Houston to better understand and address living with diabetes.

By better understanding and addressing diabetes awareness, prevention, and management with special attention to religious belief, practice, and community life, we believe that faith and health are inextricably linked, and that communities of faith have a key role in terms of making Houston a healthier place to live, work, and play. Central to Faith & Diabetes Houston is the Congregational Health Leadership Training Program, which empowers lay leaders in diverse communities of faith to address pressing health issues, with a special focus on living with diabetes.

The Faith and Diabetes Initiative is part of Cities Changing Diabetes - Houston, and is an effort to engage leaders within communities of faith around diabetes awareness, prevention, and treatment. Central to The Faith and Diabetes Initiative is the Congregational Health Leadership program, which empowers lay leaders in diverse communities of faith to address pressing health issues, with a special focus on diabetes. Following completion of the training, participants are required to run a 6-week Diabetes Self-Management Course at their community of faith.

The Houston Chronicle, wrote an article about our Cohort 2 participants.

Huffington Post recently featured the Faith and Diabetes Initiative in an article on the opportunities for houses of faith in chronic disease prevention.

The DiaTribe Foundation who provides free cutting-edge diabetes insights and actionable tips for people with diabetes, ran an in-depth article on the Faith & Diabetes Initiative.

Cities Changing Diabetes demonstrates that when we in Houston put our minds to something, we get it done. It is through community-wide initiatives and public-private partnerships like this that Houston gets its best work done, and I stay highly motivated to support Cities Changing Diabetes
— FORMER MAYOR SYLVESTER TURNER (2016–2024)
  • In Houston, Cities Changing Diabetes is led by the Institute and supported by the following organizations:

    • Houston Health Department (lead)

    • American Association of Diabetes Educators

    • American Diabetes Association

    • Asian American Health Coalition

    • City of Houston HR Department

    • Clinton Health Matters Initiative

    • The Fountain of Praise

    • Harris County Public Health

    • Hispanic Health Coalition

    • Houston Business Coalition on Health

  • The Congregational Health Leadership Training includes six three-hour group-learning seminars. The training features 18 hours of class-time, where participants will hear from experts in their respective fields, engage in collaborative, experiential learning, discuss the issues most pressing to them, and vision the future of their respective health and wellness initiatives.

  • The evidence-based curriculum, which was created by a multi-sector, stakeholder-driven work group, driven by the Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center and organized as part of Cities Changing Diabetes - Houston, features six themes:

    • Diabetes self-management and treatment

    • Diabetes prevention and awareness

    • Religious belief, practice, and health

    • Leadership and communication

    • Evaluation techniques and principles

    • Peer support strategies

    CORE Initiative, Harris County Public Health, Houston Health Department, and the Institute for Spirituality and Health are responsible for conducting the training, each providing trainers with expert knowledge and experience in working with faith and community based organizations.

    By the end of the training, participants are prepared to lead diabetes self-management courses.