| For Immediate Release | Contact: Joyce Faria Brennan |
| August 15, 2006 | 508-961-5270 |
| brennanj@southcoast.org | |
 Get this release in Word format |
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WAREHAM, Mass. — The Southcoast Diabetes Management Program has been awarded a $5,000 grant from the Makepeace Neighborhood Fund in support of diabetes education and screening programs in the Wareham community.
"Early screening, diagnosis, education and treatment of diabetes can make a dramatic impact on both the economic and the human cost of the disease," said Geraldine Santos, RN, MSN, Certified Diabetes Educator and Team Leader for the Southcoast Diabetes Management Program.
"Many high-risk individuals are not seen regularly by a health care practitioner for screening, education or treatment and therefore go undiagnosed. Statistics show that 17 percent of individuals with diabetes living in Massachusetts have not seen their health care provider within the past year," Santos said.
Southcoast will begin conducting monthly diabetes screenings in September, running through August 2007. Screenings will take place in a variety of areas, including the public library, churches, senior centers and community organizations.
Certified Diabetes Educators (CDE) will test blood glucose levels of individuals, provide education materials, initialize self-management strategies and the importance of following up with a health care provider. Individuals will be contacted after they are screened to assure follow-up has been scheduled and to see if participants have any further questions. Residents should check local listings for dates, times and locations.
Santos noted that about six percent of the adult population in Massachusetts is currently diagnosed with diabetes. Of the 20.8 million Americans with diabetes, approximately seven million are unaware they have the disease.
"Many individuals are diagnosed with diabetes only after suffering a complication that alters their quality of life," Santos said. "Individuals with diabetes have three times the incidence of cardiovascular disease than those without, four times the risk of stroke and twice the risk of high blood pressure and obesity."
The Southcoast Diabetes Management Program is nationally recognized by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) for its state-of-the-art quality of diabetes self-management education programs. For more information, please call the Southcoast Diabetes Management Program at 508-679-7143 or visit www.southcoast.org.
The Makepeace Neighborhood Fund, established by the A.D. Makepeace Company in 2005, provides grants to community organizations and municipal departments for education, environmental, housing, historic preservation or health care projects. Organizations in Wareham, Plymouth, Carver, Middleborough, Easton, Norton and Rochester were eligible to apply.
About Southcoast
Southcoast Health System, a not-for-profit charitable organization, is a community based health delivery system with multiple access points, offering an integrated continuum of advanced health services throughout Southeastern Massachusetts and East Bay, Rhode Island. It includes Southcoast Hospitals Group, formed in 1996 from the merger of Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford and Tobey Hospital in Wareham.
Southcoast has more than 40 ancillary facilities, including the Southcoast Health Van, home health care, hospice and infusion services, numerous outpatient medical services, an assisted living facility and a wellness center. For more information visit www.southcoast.org.
Southcoast is one of three community hospitals approved by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to perform open heart surgery and primary angioplasty beginning in Spring 2002.
Media Contact
Joyce Faria Brennan
Phone: 508-961-5270
Pager: 508-387-9605
Fax: 508-961-5876
brennanj@southcoast.org
