The mission of Halifax Health – Diabetes Education Services is to improve the knowledge, health and quality of life for people with diabetes by providing high quality, comprehensive, patient-centered diabetes self-management education and support. We believe this will help empower the people affected by diabetes to develop skills to manage their condition and help avoid complications. Our goal is to meet each client’s unique education needs by providing individualized patient-centered care as much as possible. Our goal as a department is to build a high level of teamwork with our patients through a process of education and genuine concern for each person.
Halifax Health offers both inpatient and outpatient diabetes self-management education services. A person with diabetes who is admitted to our hospital may have inpatient diabetes education ordered by their doctor. A registered nurse who specializes in diabetes uses a patient and family-centered approach to teach “survival skills” needed after discharge. Topics such as explaining diabetes, how to properly take diabetes medication, insulin administration, blood sugar monitoring and goals, recognizing the signs and symptoms of low blood sugar and high blood sugar with the proper treatment of these problems, sick day guidelines, nutrition and activity recommendations, preventing complications and resources may be discussed with the patient.
We encourage and empower patients and their caregivers to actively participate in their care, providing a clear, achievable plan at discharge based on each person’s medical needs, preferences, goals and abilities. The diabetes educator works closely with other Team Members, such as social workers and case managers to ensure that a follow-up appointment for diabetes care is scheduled and form partnerships with community-based providers and services to address health and social needs.
The Halifax Health Outpatient Diabetes Education Services are provided by a registered nurse and registered dietitian who are also Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialists. Services are tailored to each person’s unique needs whether they are recently diagnosed with diabetes or have had it for several years. We offer informative, interactive diabetes classes, one-on-one education, personalized nutrition counseling and meal plans designed by our registered dietitian, training on how to test blood sugar or how to inject insulin, pregnancy or gestational diabetes counseling and a free support group. These are some of the topics covered in the diabetes classes:
- Explanation of different types of diabetes, causes and treatments
- High blood sugar and low blood sugar (symptoms, causes and how to treat)
- Nutrition and healthy eating
- Exercise and physical activity
- Diabetes medications and insulin
- Testing blood sugar
- Complications (preventing, detecting and treating)
- Stress, depression, and other behavioral health issues affected by diabetes
The American Diabetes Association Recognizes this service as meeting the National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support. Diabetes information is constantly changing. So even if you have had diabetes a long time, it is helpful to get periodic updates. A referral from your provider is needed. We can verify your insurance coverage for the services before you attend. We look forward to helping people in our community “Live Their Lives Well” with diabetes.
Call 386.425.4829 for more information.
