Proactive approach key to diabetes education

Diabetes is a major health problem in Rainy River District, where 15 percent of the population is afflicted with the disease.
But staff at the Valley Diabetes Education Centre, located at La Verendrye hospital here, is trying to bring that number down through awareness and informed choices.
They’re also aimed at educating people with diabetes to improve their health and perhaps lessen their chances of further complications from the disease.
“So many people don’t know that they have diabetes,” Sarah Ross, a registered dietitian and diabetes educator, said Tuesday. “We try to get as much education out there as we can.”
Ross and Cindy Gauthier make up a health services team for diabetes that includes in-patient care, one-on-one counselling, and a vital outreach program for those living in Rainy River, Emo, and Nestor Falls.
Valley Diabetes also takes its educative outlook into school classrooms across the district as well as into the local manors and seniors’ homes.
Symptoms of diabetes include blurred vision, poor healing of cuts or wounds, tingling, numbness or pain in hands and feet, increased thirst, and itchy skin.
The major types of diabetes are Type 1 (insulin dependent), which usually develops in people under the age of 40, and Type 2 (non-insulin dependent), which makes up 90 percent of people who have the disease.
“I really like one-on-one patient counselling,” said Gauthier. “People feel very comfortable asking you questions, [and] being able to help them empower themselves to change [their lifestyles]–to progress to that point–is good.
“The biggest challenge is getting younger people with diabetes to understand that the long-term complications are many–that’s a bit frustrating sometimes,” she added.
“I enjoy being able to show [people] an easier way to manage their diets,” noted Ross. “They leave more motivated realizing that it’s not as hard as it might seem sometimes.
“[My] challenge is motivating them to change their eating habits–which are very hard to change,” she admitted.
The Valley Diabetes Education Centre also has a drop-in time each Wednesday from 1-3:30 p.m., during which time appointments can be booked, questions answered about diabetes care and management, and blood glucose monitors can be checked.
For more information, call the centre at 274-4828.