Serving Ben Hill, Irwin, Berrien, and Cook Counties

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Serving Ben Hill, Irwin, Berrien, and Cook
Counties
Bridget Walters, RN, BSN, CDE
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Where are Ben Hill, Irwin, Berrien, and Cook
Counties????
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(No Transcript)
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History

• High Rate of Uncontrolled Diabetes
• Medically Underserved Area
• High Rate of Obesity and Inactivity
• High Poverty Rates

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Sweet DreamsCollaborative (2003)

• Original Partners
• Irwin Co. Board of Health (BOH), lead partner
• Ben Hill Co. BOH
• Dorminy Medical Center
• Ben Hill Co. School System
• Irwin County Hospital
• Irwin Co. School System
• South Central Primary Care Center
• Irwin Family Medicine
• South Health District

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Irwin County Health Department
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Purpose of Sweet Dreams Project

• Begin a community disease prevention and
  education project focused on the occurrence of
  type 2 diabetes in Ben Hill and Irwin Counties by
  targeting
• Those diagnosed with type 2 diabetes
• Middle school students
• General public

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Services Targeting Type 2 Diabetics

• Self Management Classes
• Nutrition Counseling
• Medication and Testing Supply Assistance
• Diabetic Cooking Classes
• Travel Vouchers

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Middle School Activities
School Health Index
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Community Services

• Health fairs and screenings
• Public Presentations
• 10K Walking Event
• Newspaper Articles
• Distribution of brochures on prevention

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Results

• Type 2 Diabetics
• Improvement in A1Cs from 8.1 to 7.2
• Over 300 Diabetics receiving case management
  services
• Over 21,700 Medication Assistance PGTF
• Middle School
• Taekwondo BMI improvements
• 20,000 equipment/education material donated
• Community
• Over 5500 brochures/flyers distributed
• 174 participants in 10K Walk

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Road Blocks

• Sustainability
• Limited number of people reached
• Data Collection

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1. Limit Target Area
2. Expand Service Area
3. Social Marketing

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Expansion

• Current Partners
• Irwin County Board of Health, as the lead partner
• Ben Hill County Board of Health
• Berrien County Board of Health
• Cook County Board of Health
• Dorminy Medical Center
• Irwin County Hospital
• Memorial Hospital of Adel
• Berrien County Hospital
• Irwin Family Medicine
• Nashville Eye Center
• Berrien County Collaborative
• Cook Family Connections
• Adel Family Medicine
• Adel Recreation Department
• South Health District

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The Goals

• Reduce the number of hospitalizations resulting
  from diabetes or diabetic complications by 10.
• Increase community awareness of the importance of
  preventing and early detection of type 2 diabetes
  in Ben Hill, Berrien, Cook, and Irwin Counties.

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Target Population

• Low income, uninsured adults who have been
  diagnosed with type 2 diabetes
• General public for prevention teaching
• An emphasis is placed on high risk groups
  including African Americans and Hispanics.

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Services

• Self Management Education Classes
• Individual and Group Nutritional Counseling
• Community Education Presentations
• Medication Assistance
• Peer Education

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Peer Education
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Living well with diabetes means Sweet Dreams

• Bridget Walters, RN, BSN, CDE
• Sweet Dreams Project Director
• bmwalters_at_dhr.state.ga.us