HSHS St. Joseph's Hospital issued the following announcement on Nov. 21.
The diabetes self-management education program at HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital Highland has been awarded Recognition from the American Diabetes Association (ADA). This newly offered program provides high-quality educational services to the patients it serves.
The ADA Education Recognition effort is a voluntary process which assures that approved education programs have met the National Standards of Diabetes Self-Management Education Programs. Programs that achieved Recognition status have a staff of knowledgeable health professionals who can provide state-of-the-art information about diabetes management for participants.
“Diabetes is very common, but it can be difficult to manage,” said Megan Stanley, RN, diabetes educator for St. Joseph’s. “We are happy to offer this service to help those living with diabetes to be successful in managing a healthy life with this disease.”
Self-management education is an essential component of diabetes treatment. One consequence of compliance with the National Standards is the greater consistency in the quality and quantity of education offered to people with diabetes. The participant in an ADA-Recognized program will be taught self-care skills as needed that will promote better management of his or her diabetes treatment regimen. All approved education programs cover the following topics as needed: diabetes disease process; nutritional management; physical activity; medications; monitoring; preventing, detecting and treating acute complications; preventing, detecting and treating chronic complications through risk deduction; goal setting and problem solving; psychological adjustment; and preconception care, management during pregnancy and gestational management.
Assuring high-quality education for patient self-care is one of the primary goals of the Education Recognition program. Through the support of the health care team and increased knowledge and awareness of diabetes, the patient can assume a major part of the responsibility for his/her diabetes management. Unnecessary hospital admissions and some of the acute and chronic complications of diabetes may be prevented through self-management education.
According to the American Diabetes Association, there are 29.1 million people or 9.3% of the population in the United States who have diabetes. While an estimated 21 million have been diagnosed, unfortunately, 8.1 million people are not aware that they have this disease. Each day more than 3,900 people are diagnosed with diabetes. Many will first learn they have diabetes when they are treated for one of its life-threating complications – heart disease and stroke, kidney disease, blindness, and nerve disease and amputation. Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the US. Overall, the risk for death among people with diabetes is 50% greater than that of people of similar age but without diabetes.
For more information about the Diabetes Education Program at HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital Highland, call 618-526-5743.
Original source can be found here.
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