{"id":46706,"date":"2017-04-13T06:07:33","date_gmt":"2017-04-13T10:07:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=46706"},"modified":"2017-04-06T09:11:04","modified_gmt":"2017-04-06T13:11:04","slug":"improving-the-lives-of-the-most-vulnerable-people-with-diabetes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=46706","title":{"rendered":"Improving the Lives of the Most Vulnerable People with Diabetes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Diabetes is the great DIY disease. More than most other chronic conditions, people with diabetes spend a lot of time testing, adjusting, and counting medications, exercise, and food\u2014actively acting as their own caregiver on a daily, ongoing basis. Empowering newly diagnosed and those struggling to manage diabetes how to do this well is where the BD Helping Build Healthy Communities<\/a> program comes in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not one thing that\u2019s going to be a magic bullet when it comes to improving the care of diabetes,\u201d says Ingrid Andersson<\/a>, Director of Nursing at Mary\u2019s Center, a community health center in Washington DC, which received a grant for a program delivering direct care to people with diabetes. \u201cBut what we\u2019re doing here with this program is a good component to improving the lives of people who have diabetes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Improving<\/p>\n

The program at Mary\u2019s Center is part of the BD (also known as Becton Dickinson) Helping Build Healthy Communities initiative, which is funded by medical technology company BD and implemented in cooperation with Direct Relief<\/a>, an organization that provides emergency medical assistance, and the National Association of Community Health Centers<\/a>. Launched in 2013, the initiative aims to bring improved diabetes care directly to people living with diabetes by providing assistance \u201cto health centers that serve vulnerable and diverse populations in the U.S. that are uninsured or underinsured with limited access to health care,\u201d according to a statement from BD.<\/p>\n

To date, BD has helped nearly 36,000 people with diabetes by donating $6 million in money and medical supplies to 26 community health centers, including $100,000 to Mary\u2019s Center, as well as syringes and other supplies to more than 780 community health centers.<\/p>\n

Andersson says the program at Mary\u2019s Center, which is based on a similar educational initiative at the clinic to improve the treatment of hypertension, is designed specifically to help those most in need of assistance dealing with primarily type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of our patients have a very low health literacy,\u201d she says about the community Mary\u2019s Center serves. \u201cMany of them don\u2019t know the difference between blood pressure and blood sugar. And they may not understand the importance of controlling their condition because they don\u2019t feel \u2018bad\u2019 until it\u2019s too late to reverse damage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Compounding this issue is the reality that, in today\u2019s medical world, doctors don\u2019t have a lot of time to provide to patients with information for improving their own care, which is vital for someone with diabetes.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhysicians here, just like anywhere else, get 15 minutes to see a patient before they hand the patient off to a nurse.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Mary\u2019s Center, that\u2019s where the real work funded by the BD initiative begins.<\/p>\n

Nurses at Mary\u2019s Center work with patients one-on-one to provide them with valuable information on how to manage their condition on their own, including:<\/p>\n