ALMH Providing Diabetes Classes

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[January 19, 2015]  LINCOLN - If you’re diabetic and looking to lead a healthier lifestyle, Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital is offering a popular class that is covered by insurance. Two sessions will be offered beginning in February. Each session consists of 4 classes.

“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 DSME 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.

DSME has been taught at ALMH since 2009 by DiPasquale. Participants can choose an afternoon session from 2pm-4:10pm or an evening session from 6pm to 8:10pm. The sessions will be held on the following Wednesdays: February 11, February 25, March 11, and March 25.

“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.”

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 as it relates 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.

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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).

Because of the program’s structure, a limited number of participants can enroll for each session. To participate, a specific Diabetes Self Management Education Physician’s Order is required and you must fill out DSME Registration and Needs Assessment forms.

Links for all three can be found on www.ALMH.org  by clicking on “Medical Services” on the home page, then “Clinical Nutrition Services”, then “More Information for Diabetes Self Management Education”.

To inquire or request the forms, contact DiPasquale by email (preferred) at diabetes
@almh.org  or by calling 217-605-5535.

ALMH is a 25-bed critical access hospital located at 200 Stahlhut Drive in Lincoln.

[Angela Stoltzenburg, Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital]

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