Regional
Diabetes Collaborative Holds Sixth Annual Diabetes
Forum: Health Care Leaders Address New Horizons
in Diabetes
Education and Self-Management
On Friday,
April 17, 2009, some 75 physicians, nurses and other health care
professionals attended the Sixth Annual Diabetes Forum,
hosted by the Regional Diabetes Collaborative (RDC),
a program administered by the Pajaro Valley Community Health Trust
(Health Trust). The annual gathering was held at the Health
Trust’s community conference space in Watsonville to engage
local and regional health care leaders in a day-long dialogue to
explore such topics as patient-centered approaches to diabetes
care, the role of education in chronic disease management, the
importance of understanding health literacy in diabetes education,
and more.
The keynote speaker for the Diabetes Forum was Alan
Glaseroff, MD, Medical Director of the Humboldt/del Norte Independent
Physician’s
Association, who talked about Humboldt County’s
nationally-recognized model for diabetes education in the patient
centered medical home. Dr. Glaseroff also moderated a panel
of patients with diabetes from communities throughout the Tri-County
area. They shared their individual stories about dealing
with their diabetes diagnosis and gave examples of what worked
or didn’t work in care they had received for their diabetes.
In
a panel presentations by Diabetes Educators from hospital and community-based
diabetes education programs in Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz
Counties, program directors, nurse educators and dietitians covered
topics ranging from insulin injection and nutrition to dealing
with financial, cultural and linguistic barriers to diabetes education.
In
the afternoon session, Hilary Seligman, MD, MAS, an Assistant Professor
of Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital, discussed the concept
of “health promotion counseling” for patients
with limited health literacy skills.
Throughout the full-day forum,
participants took part in short exercise sessions organized by
members of the Regional Diabetes Collaborative to practice what
we preach about the importance of physical activity as a key component
to a healthy lifestyle.
The event
kicked off with a welcome from Health Trust CEO Kathleen King and
RDC Chair Leslie Goodfriend, MPH. Ms. Goodfriend served as
the program moderator throughout the day.
The Sixth Annual Diabetes
Forum was made possible thanks to the generous grants and sponsorships
from the following RDC member organizations:
- Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula
- Dominican Hospital/Catholic Healthcare West
- Pajaro Valley Community Health Trust
- Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System
- Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center of Santa Cruz/PAMF
The following non-members of the RDC also provided generous grants
and sponsorship support:
- The California Healthcare Foundation
- Lilly USA
- Merck Corporation
- Takeda Corporation
About the impact of diabetes on residents of the Central
Coast
The RDC is a membership organization of
three dozen public and private entities from Monterey, San Benito
and Santa Cruz Counties. This Tri-County collaborative was convened
by the Health Trust in 2002 to combat the incidence of diabetes
in our region, which is one of the highest in the State: seven
percent of Tri-County residents (55,000 people) now have Type
2 diabetes. Since 1990, the number has grown by a third. Public
Health officials project a doubling before 2020.
Beyond
the physical impact on patients, the cost of diabetes is staggering. The
national cost of diabetes and its complications exceeds $130
billion a year, and that’s rising at least 10%
a year. For the Tri-County area it’s close to a half billion.
About the Regional Diabetes Collaborative (RDC)
The
RDC is administered by the Pajaro Valley Community Health Trust
that, since 2002, has united some 35 member-organizations to prevent
and manage diabetes in Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey Counties.
The RDC’s activities include creating partnerships
with private, public, governmental and community-based organizations
to prevent diabetes in the region; increasing public awareness
and diabetes education; promoting best practices in clinical management;
and improving the availability, accessibility, and affordability
of treatment services, medicines, and equipment for diabetes patients.
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