ALMH offers diabetic self-management class

[August 16, 2013]  If you are a person with diabetes and looking to lead a healthier lifestyle, Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital is taking applications for the fall sessions of an educational program that is now covered by insurance.

"The state is promoting healthy behaviors and endorsing the effectiveness of diabetes self-management education, or DSME, which uses a curriculum approved by the American Diabetes Association," said Jennifer DiPasquale, a licensed, registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator. "Group education works."

Called the U.S. Diabetes Conversation Map program, the class will be guided by participants in an interactive setting. The program was developed by Healthy Interactions Inc., a global leader in health education, in collaboration with the American Diabetes Association.

The program has been taught at ALMH since 2009 by DiPasquale.

"It's always patient-centered, promoting what the group feels is important," DiPasquale said. "This conversation-driven method leads participants to get more involved in creating a plan to improve their health, and it's driven by the belief that people learn by being engaged -- hearing, seeing, exploring, discussing and doing."

The first of two four-hour class sessions will be on Oct. 9, meeting from 2 to 4:15 p.m. in the Baldridge Education Room at ALMH. The second session will also begin Oct. 9, meeting from 6 to 8:15 p.m. in the Baldridge Room. Because of the program's structure, a limited number of participants can enroll for each session.

There are four major content areas in the program:

• On the Road to Better Managing Your Diabetes covers many of the basic concepts one needs to know related to managing diabetes.

• Diabetes and Healthy Eating engages participants in a detailed discussion about the connection between food and diabetes and the importance of healthy eating to managing diabetes.

• Monitoring Your Blood Glucose engages patients in a discussion about the importance of monitoring blood glucose, managing high and low blood glucose, and how to use the results from monitoring to better manage diabetes.

• Continuing Your Journey with Diabetes focuses on complex concepts related to diabetes, including the natural course of diabetes, the medicine options that exist, what insulin is and how it works, long-term complications associated with diabetes, and the key ABC's -- A1C, blood pressure, cholesterol.

Participants must have a physician's order and fill out registration and needs assessment forms. For more information or to request the forms, contact DiPasquale by email (preferred) at [e-mail] or by calling 217-605-5535. Forms can also be picked up at the ALMH Rehab Services office between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

ALMH is a 25-bed critical-access hospital at 200 Stahlhut Drive in Lincoln. For more information, visit www.almh.org.

[Text from file received from Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital]