Working with your doctor, our team will assess your needs, help you determine realistic goals and provide an individualized care plan for you. The Diabetes Wellness Program provides a variety of services to meet your needs:

Diabetes Self-Management Education 

• Blood sugar monitoring (glucose meter will be provided) 
• Oral & Insulin management skills 
• Nutrition education, carbohydrate counting  & meal planning 
• Cholesterol & high blood pressure management 
• Exercise & weight loss counseling 
• Stress management 
• Preventing or delaying long-term complications

We also provide education on topics of particular interest to diabetics including:

• Dining Out with Diabetes - This 90 minute class proves that anyone can dine out at their favorite restaurant and still make healthy food choices. Learn how to determine carbohydrate grams, where hidden fats can be found and all about “portion distortion.” Individuals with pre-diabetes and/or diabetes will of course benefit from the class, but anyone looking to gain knowledge when eating out will enjoy this informative class.
  
• Carbohydrate Counting and Reading Food Labels - This two-hour class was developed for those individuals needing a “refresher” course. Foods that raise the blood sugar are identified and carbohydrate counting is reviewed. Reading food labels can be confusing if you don’t know what to look for. Here we demystify the typical food label and manufacturers claims.
  
• Peripheral Arterial Disease Clinic - Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) is estimated to affect 12 million individuals. PAD increases ones risk for a heart attack or stroke, but most individuals have no symptoms. This is how 85-90% of PAD diagnoses are missed. Fortunately, our program offers weekly PAD clinics. The non-invasive 30 minute screening has been shown to have a 90% direct correlation in detecting blockage.
  
• Pre-diabetes Class - Here, we focus on preventing the diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes through healthy eating, weight loss and exercise. In addition, cholesterol management is discussed. Recent research has shown that as little as a 5-7% weight loss and minimum of 150 minutes/week of exercise can return blood sugars back to normal ranges! All participants receive an individualized education manual that outlines specific guidelines to help him/her be successful. 

Diabetes Class Schedules are available on the Classes page.

To ensure ongoing current information, the Diabetes Wellness Program offers monthly Diabetes Support Group sessions. The informative one-hour sessions provide an opportunity for the participants to hear a variety of speakers present on diabetes related topics.

For more information about any of our Wellness Center programs, e-mail us at wellnesscenter@stjoe.org