Westerly Hospital to offer five-week course on managing diabetes

Westerly -- The Westerly Hospital will be offering a comprehensive, five-week course beginning in October to help patients gain practical knowledge and skills needed to manage diabetes successfully.

The course will be conducted by a team of dieticians, nurses, and pharmacists of The Westerly Hospital who are all certified diabetes outpatient educators. The hospital’s diabetes program recently became accredited by the American Association of Diabetes Educators.

The course will cover the fundamentals of nutritional management, label reading, meal planning options, guidelines for eating out and special occasions, glucose monitoring, medication management, insulin treatment and administration, sick-day care, foot care, exercise, stress management, and preventing complications. With a physician’s referral, many health insurers cover the cost of these sessions. Please check with your insurance provider to make check whether diabetes self-management education is a covered benefit.

Classes will take place every Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. from Oct. 11 through Nov. 8 in the Henry J. Nardone Conference Center at the hospital. Class size is limited. For information and to register, call (401) 348-3533 or (800) 933-5960 extension 3533, or send an email to: diabetes@westerlyhospital.org.

In addition to this group course, the hospital also offers individual, one-on-one instruction with a certified diabetes outpatient educator by appointment by calling the same number.