Nearly 21 million Americans have diabetes – a diagnosis with severe cardiovascular implications, including heart attack and stroke that ultimately kill two out of three people with diabetes. In 2001, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) launched the Make the Link! Diabetes, Heart Disease and Stroke initiative. The ADA tapped Spectrum Science Communications to help them reach patients, health care professionals, media, and the general public with messages about the critical link between diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

In late 2001, the ADA conducted a baseline survey of more than 2,000 people with diabetes to measure awareness of cardiovascular disease risk factors. The results were clear – 68 percent did not consider cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks and stroke, to be a serious complication of diabetes. Spectrum developed a comprehensive communications campaign to drive public awareness of Make the Link! through media outreach.

The Make the Link! initiative now continues into its sixth year and has generated roughly 300 million audience impressions with education and awareness messages. Five-year benchmark survey results showed a significant increase in awareness of cardiovascular disease risk factors among people with diabetes. Forty-five percent understood their increased risk for heart disease, up from 35 percent in 2001. Sixty-nine percent knew their risk of developing high blood pressure, compared to 38 percent in 2001.