If you have diabetes, the goal is control. Control your blood sugar levels and you reduce the risk of heart disease, kidney disease, blindness and neuropathy. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway and The Gateway Family YMCA-Rahway Branch are teaming up to help uninsured people control their diabetes with a free, six-week education and exercise program.
“Diabetes control is more than diet. It’s medication management, exercise, balancing meals and snacks, managing stress. People want to do the right things regarding their diabetes, but they often don’t know how,” said Angela Bacque, MPA, RPh, CDE, Pharmacy and Diabetes Self-Management Program Manager at RWJ Rahway. “This program gives them the tools they need.”
The program includes the expertise needed to help control high blood sugar. It features diabetes educators, exercise experts, a pharmacist and nurse. Topics will include medication management, stress management, and tips like the timing of meals with glucose checks. There will be light exercise at each session by a YMCA fitness expert, as well as a healthy lunch and incentives.
“Exercise plays an important role in learning to control your blood sugar levels. Community-based organizations like the YMCA play a key role in chronic disease prevention, increasing access to services that are outside of a traditional clinical environment,” said Krystal R. Canady, CEO of The Gateway Family YMCA. “In partnership with Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway, programs like this can help change behaviors and improve lives.”
The first six week program is open to those without insurance or whose insurance does not cover diabetes education. Caregivers are welcome. The session begins Tuesday, September 18 from 11:30 am to 1 pm at the YMCA and runs each Tuesday for six weeks. The YMCA is located at 1564 Irving Street, Rahway. After six weeks, another six week program will begin in the Rahway area. Registration for these programs is required. To register, please call 732 499 6109.
For those who have insurance, including Medicare and Medicaid, the hospital runs a Diabetes Self-Management Program, offering one-on-one counseling. That program can be reached by calling 732.499.6109.
ABOUT RWJUH RAHWAY
Founded in 1917, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway is an acute care community hospital that provides a continuum of care. In addition to medical and surgical care, the hospital provides extensive outpatient services including physical, occupational, speech and hearing, wound care and hyperbaric medicine, pulmonary and cardiac rehabilitation. The hospital is home to Care Connection Rahway, a 24 bed rehabilitation unit and Kindred Hospital New Jersey-Rahway, a 34-bed long-term acute care hospital for medically complex patients requiring a longer length of stay.
ABOUT RWJBARNABAS HEALTH:
RWJBarnabas Health is the largest, most comprehensive health care system in New Jersey, with a service area covering nine counties with five million people. The system includes eleven acute care hospitals – Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, Community Medical Center in Toms River, Jersey City Medical Center in Jersey City, Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, RWJUH in New Brunswick, RWJUH Somerset in Somerville, RWJUH Hamilton, RWJUH Rahway and Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston; three acute care children’s hospitals and a leading pediatric rehabilitation hospital with a network of outpatient centers (Children’s Specialized Hospital) with its multiple outpatient centers, a freestanding 100-bed behavioral health center, two trauma centers, a satellite emergency department, ambulatory care centers, geriatric centers, the state’s largest behavioral health network, comprehensive home care and hospice programs, fitness and wellness centers, retail pharmacy services, a medical group, multi-site imaging centers and two accountable care organizations.
RWJBarnabas Health is New Jersey’s largest private employer – with more than 33,000 employees, 9,000 physicians and 1,000 residents and interns – and routinely captures national awards for outstanding quality and safety. RWJBarnabas Health recently announced a partnership with Rutgers University to create New Jersey’s largest academic health care system. The collaboration will align RWJBarnabas Health with Rutgers’ education, research and clinical activities, including those at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care.
