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E-mail This StoryCollin College was the sight of a new approach to educating patients with Diabetes.
The two-hour program, titled Journey for Control, was attended by just identified diabetics and long term diabetics who were given the opportunity to discuss problems and issues they face on a daily basis.
We want to get away from the general diabetic meeting with lectures, registered nurse, diabetes educator Sharain Adams of Diabetes America said. Our program is interactive.
The presentation uses a road map placed on a table, the participants travel the road learning to understand, control, and improve their diabetes.
This program allows the patients to see that others are going through the same things and it makes them more comfortable, Adams said.
Adams is new to the Journey for Control program.
“I have been doing diabetes education for about three years and the conversation map for a year,” Adams said.
While using the map Adams gets the patients to participate with various cards and conversation. She also talks about the ABCs for better diabetes control.
There are three things to help control your diabetes, A1c, blood pressure and cholesterol, she said. A1c is short for hemoglobin HgbA1c which measures the average blood glucose level over a 2-3 month period. It should be checked at lease twice a year.
You want to have a level below 7 percent, Adams said.
She said blood pressure makes you heart work too hard. She suggested that a good target for Diabetes patients is 130/80 mm Hg.
Bad cholesterol or LDL builds up and clogs arteries, which may cause strokes. It should be checked at least once a year and a suggested target is below 100 mg/dl.
It is also important to improve eating habits, exercise, and test blood glucose regularly.
These are important. You have to maintain good eating habits and aim for about 30-minutes of continuous exercise daily and check, check, check your blood glucose through out the day, Adams said.
She advised seeing your primary healthcare physician on a regular basis.
Wilfred Cain, 65, from Van Alstyne said he was pleased with the program.
I learned a lot about the types of diabetic and what causes it, Cain said. I learned about ways to control it. It was a good program.
Danny Nataraga from Coppell had recently been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.
“Tonight the program gave me a better understanding of Diabetes and calmed me down,” Nataraga said. “I’ll be returning when there is another program.
The next program will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 12 on the Collin College campus in Frisco.
Merck & Company and the American Diabetes Association sponsored training for diabetes educators to learn how to use the program to help diabetic learn more about the disease, senior professional representative for Merck Al Simmons.
“We didn’t want to just sell a diabetes medicine we wanted to educate the diabetic,” Simmons said.
