Community health workers to boost postpartum diabetes screening in urban India
Official title: A type 2 hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial of Community Health Workers to improve screening for postpartum diabetes in urban slums of India
Funded at Weill Medical Coll of Cornell Univ · NIH-11413769 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A study tests whether community health workers can help women in Indian slums get screened for type 2 diabetes after pregnancy.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Weill Medical Coll of Cornell Univ NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project start | September 18, 2023 |
| Project end | August 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $433,532 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HD112141-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11413769 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Women with a history of gestational diabetes living in urban slums of Pune, India, and their communities who are reachable through community health workers.
✕Less likely to help
Women without a prior gestational diabetes diagnosis or those not engaged with local health services may not benefit from this specific outreach approach.
What this research studies
In urban slums of Pune, India, this project partners with local health centers to test two approaches for postpartum diabetes screening among women who had gestational diabetes. It uses a cluster-randomized design to compare home-based oral glucose tolerance testing with clinic-based referrals, delivered through trained community health workers. The goal is to see if CHWs can effectively increase screening uptake during the critical postpartum period, while also evaluating how well the approach can be implemented in real-world settings. The project blends effectiveness and implementation research to identify practical pathways to reduce the burden of undiagnosed diabetes and its cardiovascular consequences in this high-risk population.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the approach could lead to earlier detection of diabetes after pregnancy and lower risk of heart disease for women in low-resource urban settings.
How similar studies have gone: Cluster-randomized trials using community health workers have shown potential to improve maternal–child health behaviors in similar settings, though results for postpartum diabetes screening are still emerging.
Where this research is happening
-
Weill Medical Coll of Cornell Univ
New York, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Sundararajan, Radhika Lu — Weill Medical Coll of Cornell Univ
- Study coordinator: Sundararajan, Radhika Lu
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Community health workers to improve postpartum diabetes screening in Indian urban slums
A program using community health workers in Pune, India to boost postpartum diabetes screening for women who had gestational diabetes.
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Community health workers to boost postpartum diabetes screening in India's urban slums
A large study in India tests whether community health workers can help new mothers get screened for type 2 diabetes after gestational diabetes, either at home or via clinic referrals.
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How Medicaid Postpartum Coverage and PPD Screening Could Improve Diabetes and Blood Pressure Care After Birth
A large NIH grant is studying how extending Medicaid after birth and mandating postpartum depression screening affect care for women with gestational diabetes and pregnancy-related high blood pressure.
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Community health workers helping new mothers in Pune get diabetes testing after pregnancy
This project offers home-based diabetes testing by community health workers or clinic referrals to women who had gestational diabetes in urban slums of Pune, India.
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Using community health workers to boost postpartum diabetes screening in urban slums
This project will see if community health workers can help more women with gestational diabetes get diabetes screening after pregnancy in slum communities in India.
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Community health workers bringing postpartum diabetes testing to mothers in Pune slums
This project offers either home-based glucose testing by community health workers or clinic referral to help women who had gestational diabetes in urban slums of Pune, India get checked for type 2 diabetes after childbirth.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.