The Root Cause (TRC) is a Christian health ministry that provides practical, proven steps toward health for people in underserved communities who suffer from, or are at risk for, chronic diseases. When founded in 2014 by Parker Dail, TRC initially focused on using Type 2 diabetes prevention and management programs as a platform for reaching people with the gospel. Over several years we ended up serving thousands of people outside the United States. As we did so, we discovered that we needed to broaden our care to include co-morbidities and chronic diseases related to diabetes, such as hypertension, heart health, obesity, etc. That led us to start incorporating social, psychological, and spiritual factors in our health assessments in order to better understand the whole person. Today, our goal is to create overall health by addressing the many key issues of a person’s life—their relationships and social dynamics, their mental health, their ability to function, their spirituality—that affect not only the severity of their disease ,but also what they’ll need to return to health. Our TRC-trained local caregivers serve as our front-line workers, interacting with participants using screening assessments, one-on-one follow-up care, and “Life Groups.” We also partner with local health systems and providers, and work with faith-based organizations, churches, communities, and safe harbor locations to deliver innovative, localized solutions that are tailored to the unique needs of the participant. Currently we are demonstrating the effectiveness of our program overseas in India and Kenya, and closer to home in Detroit and Dallas
