Porter Regional Hospital hosted a fun and informational fair to raise awareness about healthcare and diabetes. Smoothies, whole wheat muffins, sugar substitutes, and a variety of healthy flavored drinks were all on the menu to taste as attendees gathered information about preventing diabetes and related cardiovascular conditions like heart attack and stroke how to live a healthier lifestyle. Dr. Mohamed Zeitoun was available for questions while staff and students from Ivy Tech Community College gave free blood sugar and blood pressure screenings.
Community members flocked to the hospital to learn more about diabetes and what steps they can take to live healthier lives, with or without diabetes. RN and Diabetes Educator at Porter Regional Hospital, Angela Maletta, was excited for such a great turn out of people interested in seeing what Porter Regional has to offer.
“We can always catch a problem ahead of time when we do a blood glucose screening, like catching the patient in the prediabetes stage or early diagnosis of type two diabetes,” Maletta said. “Because the sooner we get on top of it, the better we can prevent complications for them in the future”
The most popular portions of the fair were the demonstrations and mini informational seminars led by Jill Kilhefner, Clinical Dietitian at Porter Regional Hospital. Between how to make a good breakfast smoothie or how to keep track of recipes and consumption, every eye in the room was on her.
“We thought it would be important to offer an event for the community where they could get information. People are sometimes intimidated to seek out a class so an event like this where it’s free and open, people can come in and get all of the information that they want,” Kilhefner said. “When you’re an educator and in healthcare, this is the kind of stuff that makes it really fun because you know the people here are interested in what they’re learning and you can make a big difference in their lives.”
According to the American Diabetes Association, 1.5 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes every year. It’s never too early to start the screening process, especially if you have family members who have been diagnosed with the disease, are overweight and get little to no exercise, or are over the age of 65.
Diabetes management is about knowing how to take care of yourself. Eating right, exercising, being at a healthy weight, taking your medicine regularly, and monitoring your sugar are areas you should focus on. Starting January 7, Porter Regional Hospital will offer Diabetes Support Groups for those looking for a community and are in need of a little extra support. Porter also provide diabetes classes, individual consultation, nutrition help and more.
For more information on what Porter Regional Hospital has to offer, go to www.porterhealth.com.
