The Chatham County Public Health Department’s Diabetes Self Management 
Education (DSME) program has been educating Chatham County residents with diabetes for almost two years. Health Educator, Kelcy Walker and Nutritionist, Zach Deaton conduct the classes and work with patients. Deaton says, “We really enjoy doing these classes and working with patients. It’s great to see them take control of their diabetes and overall health.”
To enroll in the program, an individual needs a referral from a primary care provider. Once referred, the health department performs an initial assessment and checks the patient’s A1c level. A1c is the average blood glucose over a three month period. The American Diabetes Association recommends an A1c under 7%. This is equivalent to an average blood sugar of 170.
The group education portion of the program lasts for 8 hours. The classes cover different aspects of diabetes care such as stress management, nutrition, physical activity, medications, monitoring, chronic complications, and goal setting.
Mr. Deaton and Ms. Walker continue to follow up with patients after the classes end. At the three month mark, A1c levels, blood pressures, and foot checks are tracked. All participants are also added to the diabetes support group mailing list for continued education and support in managing diabetes.
The program has been very successful. Of the 52 patients that have participated in the DSME program, the average A1c dropped over two percentage points from 9.1% to 6.9%. Approximately 75% of patients report doing daily self foot checks which is very important to maintain healthy feet.
Kelcy Walker says, “We’re very happy about the overall success of the program and that we can now offer these services in Pittsboro and Siler City. We feel that we can serve the public better by holding classes in the western and eastern parts of the county.”
For more information, please go to www.chathamnc.org/diabetes or contact Kelcy Walker at 542-8520 or Zach Deaton at 742-5641.
