Hartford HealthCare hospitals provide person-centered diabetes care
More than 38 million children and adults in the United States have diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Diabetes Association. That’s about 1 in every 10 Americans, of which 1 in 5 don’t know they have the condition. About 98 million American adults — more than 1 in 3 — have prediabetes. People with diabetes are at higher risk of serious health complications, including blindness, kidney failure, heart disease, stroke, and loss of toes, feet or legs. It’s estimated that diabetes contributes to the death of nearly 400,000 Americans annually.
Hartford HealthCare’s Diabetes and Endocrinology program offers classes, individual counseling sessions, monthly support groups, resources and special events designed to help people with diabetes take care of themselves and prevent long-term complications. The health system website links to free online tools, including a diabetes risk assessment, diabetes maintenance (or care) assessment, and a diabetes toolkit available in English, Spanish and Polish.
Hospitals in the Hartford HealthCare system across Connecticut provide comprehensive diabetes care that matches a patient’s medical diagnosis, personal needs and lifestyle:
- Backus Hospital in Norwich offers specialized services to help patients manage endocrine disorders such as diabetes, including an outpatient diabetes self-management program.
- Hartford Hospital, one of the largest teaching hospitals in New England, leads a program based on the results of a 10-year research study that demonstrated that better control of blood sugar decreased long-term complications.
- The Hospital of Central Connecticut, with campuses in New Britain and Southington, provides individual care for people 18 and older with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, as well as for pregnant women with diabetes.
- MidState Medical Center in Meriden offers a diabetes self-management group program and individual counseling on such topics as medical nutrition therapy and insulin management.
- Windham Hospital in Willimantic, the first community hospital in the U.S. to meet the National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education, creates a customized plan for patients that may include group classes or individual education sessions.