Being told you have diabetes can be overwhelming, but the certified educators at Central Maine Healthcare are here to help you manage your condition with confidence. We’re here to help you live your healthiest life with:
- All the latest information on diabetes
- Guidance on blood glucose monitoring
- Lifestyle support, such as managing sick days, managing stress and psychological adjustments you might experience
- Help preventing complications, such as foot and vision problems
- Healthy eating and exercise plans, personalized to your tastes and activities
Hands-On Support for Every Step
You’ll first meet individually with one of our certified diabetes educators, so we can be sure you understand diabetes. We’ll assess your current lifestyle and show you how we think you can be even healthier. We’ll make sure you know how to set blood sugar goals, how to use your meter, when to test your blood and what to do when your blood sugar is too high or too low.
Get Answers from the Experts
We know you’ll have questions about managing your diabetes. You might be wondering, for instance:
- What can I order in a restaurant?
- I have my lab results—but what do they mean? What numbers should I be looking for?
- How much do I have to exercise?
- I have bad knees, and can’t walk long distances (or run at all). What are my exercise alternatives?
- Do I really have to count carbs every day?
Our skilled diabetes educators are always available to answer these and any other questions you may have. We also have social workers on staff to help with financial, emotional or mental health needs. We can help you find resources and assistance right in your community. And every year, we offer a free Diabetes Fair, featuring vendors who can highlight the latest in diabetes management technology.
Self-Management Program
One of our most popular resources is the outpatient Diabetes Self-Management Program, an intensive program on effectively managing your diabetes. You’ll be shown in-depth strategies for setting goals, solving problems, how to spot complications, and making sure your social life doesn’t include obstacles to your healthier lifestyle.
Diabetes Prevention Program
As part of the CDC-led National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), the CMH DPP lifestyle change program helps people with prediabetes make healthy, long-term changes to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.
Participants meet in a small group led by a trained lifestyle coach. Individuals receive group support and learn how to get on a healthy track and stay there.
Full Recognition from the CDC Diabetes Prevention Recognition Program Since March 2016
The Lifestyle Change Program
Participants in the Lifestyle Change Program meet for about one hour once a week for eight weeks, every two weeks for eight more sessions, then once a month for six months to complete the year-long program.
During each session, your lifestyle coach will present health information and then lead a group discussion. You will learn to:
- Eat healthy
- Add physical activity to your life
- Manage stress
- Stay on track when eating out
For more information about the CMH DPP lifestyle change program, go to www.cdc.gov/diabetes/prevention.
The Benefits of a Diabetes Prevention Program
Follow-up studies show that following this lifestyle change program has helped many people with prediabetes cut their risk of developing type 2 diabetes in half.
Participants can achieve weight loss by making healthier food choices, becoming more physically active and learning to manage stress. The Diabetes Prevention Program research reveals that even modest behavior changes can lead to great results: for example, if a person weighing 200 pounds lost 5 to 7 percent of their body weight (10 to 14 lbs.), they could reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by more than half.
Studies also show that when people have the support of others working towards the same goals they have more success. Group members celebrate successes and encourage each other to overcome challenges.
Lifestyle Coaches
Central Maine Healthcare Diabetes Prevention Program Lifestyle Coaches Offer Information and Support. Lifestyle coaches are an essential part of the Central Maine Healthcare Diabetes Prevention Program.
CMH lifestyle coaches have all been trained by a Master Trainer or Master Trainer Select, certified by the Diabetes Training and Technical Assistance Center at Emory University. Our coaches are skilled in helping people who have been diagnosed with prediabetes achieve lifestyle changes that will enable them to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.
Our coaches help people:
- Learn the facts about healthy eating and physical activity and explain how these behaviors will help reduce risk for type 2 diabetes
- Set and meet goals
- Build relationships with other participants
- Work as a group to meet challenges
- Understand and respond to food cues
- Stay motivated
- Solve problems that get in the way of making healthy changes
Nutritional Counseling for Diabetes
With diabetes, what you eat matters. That doesn’t mean all patients follow the same strict food plan — we know there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all diet. At Central Maine Healthcare, our registered dietitians will work with you to design a personalized nutrition plan, based on your unique goals, tastes and medical history. More than anything, we want you to be able to eat healthy and enjoy your favorite foods. To us, that’s the essence of meal planning.
Tools to Help You Eat and Live Well
Your one-on-one sessions with your Central Maine dietitian will cover a wide range of topics to inform and empower you, such as:
- Insulin—what it does, how much you need, what happens when you don’t make enough, and how your insulin levels are affected by certain types of foods
- Other food outcomes, good and bad: cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure and more
- Food allergies and intolerances; what’s the difference and how to identify foods you should avoid
- Eating to build muscle
- Losing and gaining pounds, and how the endocrine system affects your weight
- Eating with your family: do they need a new meal plan, too?
- Sports nutrition: how to eat if you’re an athlete (or just a weekend warrior)
- Vegetarian choices; some are insulin-friendly, some aren’t
- Functional nutrition, looking at food as medicine to improve your health
- Alcohol and how it affects your insulin levels
Once you understand food and diabetes, making the best choices will become second nature, whether you’re at home or eating out.