69 achieve three main goals by 2032: a 50 percent reduction in the conversion rate from pre-diabetes to diabetes; a marked increase in the number of diabetes patientswhose glucose levels are considered “well-controlled”; and, in light of the growing epidemic of childhood obesity, a decrease in the percentage of children defined as “at risk” for diabetes. Now completing its first year of operation, SPHERE has already made astounding progress in the initiative’s pilot cities. Activities included making a persuasive business case for local governments’ partnership in a healthcare initiative (“There’s a real economic incentive for cities to improve the health of their residents,” Spitzer explains) and creating an initiative liaison in each of the pilot cities’ municipalities. Called “BARAKs” (the Hebrewword for lightning is an acronym for “health, authority, and community”), these coordinators work with an on-site SPHERE mentor to integrate diabetes prevention, control, and care practices into all municipal activities. Moreover, they help develop an ecosystem with local healthcare providers, NGOs, and religious leaders. In addition, this March, SPHERE launched its innovative “City MRI,” a mapping tool that collects data from each city’s health, education, recreation, and other sectors for use in developing plans for strategic community change. And this summer, the “one stop shop” mobile testing clinic, replete with all the necessary tests for monitoring the progression of the disease, will be dispatched directly to the five pilot towns, and the results sent to patients’ primary-care physicians to ensure the appropriate follow up. Finally, SPHERE also advanced along its fourth pathway, Cure, awarding grants of approximately $800,000 for basic research by Azrieli Faculty members on the genetics of type 1 diabetes, microbiome, and beta-cell regeneration. And while Spitzer admits that science is still a long way from eradicating this devastating disease, she is confident that, on the basis of the first year’s progress, SPHEREwill achieve its goal of affecting the lives of nearly 60 percent of Israel’s Galilee within the next decade. “We’re building northern communities’ capacities to encourage, facilitate, and reflect better health behaviors in day-to-day life,” Spitzer concludes. “For people in Israel’s geographic and socioeconomic periphery, it’s a means to put healthier lives within their reach.” Prof. Naim Shehadeh Dr. Sivan Spitzer Featuring more than 160 health indicators, SPHERE’s digital Municipal Health Dashboard provides realtime insights about the overall health and particular health behaviors of residents in the five pilot cities. Equipped with the dashboard’s data, municipalities will have a clearer picture of the specific challenges their communities face. Together with a SPHERE urban planner and social-prescription platform coordinator, municipal leaders will then design evidence-based interventions for encouraging better health choices and preventing the conversion to diabetes. They will also develop a range of targeted “touch points” to reinforce the healthy-lifestyle message. Fighting Diabetes with Data: The SPHERE Municipal Health Dashboard
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