Rotary Central Sponsors Diabetes Educators Course

Posted by Sandy Cram

on Mar 3, 2012

On March 3^rd and 4^th 2012, Rotary Central proudly sponsored medical professionals of varying specialties from the public and private sectors to a most informative Diabetes Educators’ Course which was presented by Mrs. Andrea Hunt, Certified Diabetes Educator & Consultant from Jamaica and the USA. The course culminated in a most impressive pinning ceremony on March 4^th at the Cayman Islands Hospital, in which the course participants earned the title of “Diabetes Resource Clinician”.

Guests of honour were The Honourable Mark Scotland, Minister of Health, Environment, Youth, Sports and Culture; Mrs. Jennifer Ahearn, Permanent Secretary & Chief Officer, Ministry of Health, Environment, Youth, Sports and Culture; Mr. Steve Moore, Head of the Governor’s Office. Officiating Rotarians were VP Naude Dreyer, PP Mario Ebanks and Rot. Zelta Gayle, Chairperson of Rotary Central’s diabetes initiative.The course focused on diabetes management strategies, addressing a critical shortage of healthcare professionals with the necessary ability to teach their patients self-management skills. This Diabetes Educators’ Course has been developed to train healthcare professionals to provide accurate, effective and culturally sensitive education to people with diabetes in the Caribbean. By working as a member of a diabetes management team, the diabetes educator will improve the care that patients with diabetes receive by empowering the patient to make the necessary behavioural changes they need to manage their disease more effectively. Diabetes and its complications are among the five leading causes of death worldwide. It is therefore important that people with diabetes be taught self-management skills in order to reduce the risk of complications from this disease. Unfortunately, to date, there have been only a few persons with this skill in the Caribbean.