Diabetes Education in the Community
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Photo courtesy of
Charlene Bright |
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The American Public Health Association conducted a SororsCaring workshop for senior residents at Edgewood Terrace in North East Washington, DC. A large percentage of the residents were diagnosed with diabetes, with that in mind presentation topics covered the prevention of Type 2 diabetes but a greater emphasis was devoted to self management. Healthy eating, physical activity and enlisting a care team were the major themes covered. It was our goal to educate and empower the participants to manage their disease in order to avoid any further complications.
Discussions on diabetes maintenance and prevention guided the workshop which was complemented by active audience participation. Participants read through simulated scenarios that dealt with challenges to increase physical activity and determining healthy food options. Short discussions followed to talk about the solutions to these challenges and also pinpointed strategies in managing diabetes. The National Diabetes Education campaign’s 4 Steps to Control your Diabetes for Life was distributed to help reinforce what was discussed.
A game of Diabetes BINGO was also incorporated which included jargon associated with the disease in order to familiarize the residents with important diabetes related terms and concepts. The workshop culminated with a question and answer period and the group with guidance from the presenters came up with a list of methods to promote a healthy lifestyle overall.
If you’re interested in conducting a workshop please email sororscaring@apha.org for more information.
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