Benedum Civic Center to Host Free Diabetes Awareness Fair
By Julie Perine on November 10, 2019
Bridgeport Parks and Recreation is taking a proactive step to provide important health education to the public. The Benedum Civic Center is the site of a diabetes awareness fair, to be held 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 19.
Community members are invited to attend, speaking with interdisciplinary healthcare providers about Diabetes Mellitus prevention and treatment.
“There are two types of diabetes – Type I, which is most common in youth – in which the body doesn’t make enough insulin,” said Taylor Flowers, occupational therapist/therapy team leader, Encompass Health. “There is currently no way to prevent it from developing. You can only treat it.”
Type II, Flowers said, is when the body cannot utilize insulin properly.
“In most cases, it is preventable and I t can develop at any age, though it is more common in adults than children,” she said.
Contributing factors in Type II diabetes are obesity and inactivity.
“It’s the cultural change of being more sedentary and having a fast-paced lifestyle; eating more fast foods and generally unhealthy food,” Flowers said. “Those types of things contribute to developing the condition; that and lack of education that it is preventable.”
Losing seven percent of one’s body weight – 15 pounds if one weighs 200 pounds – will contribute greatly to prevention of diabetes type II. That can be accomplished, Flowers said, through moderate exercise; 30 minutes per day, five days per week.
Flowers said stations will be set up at the Nov. 19 diabetes awareness fair.
“There will be five to six booths people can visit and ask questions of presenters and there will be a little education session on each topic,” she said.
A physical therapist will provide activity recommendations and a nutrition table will offer guidance on diet. A nurse will be on hand, as well as an occupational therapist, who will explain side effects of diabetes, such as peripheral neuropathy - nerves that carry messages to and from the brain and spinal cord from and to the rest of the body are damaged or diseased - and diabetic retinopathy – damage to the blood vessels of the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye.
“Vision can become impaired, as well as sensation in the distal, so fingers and feet especially can become impaired and one might not feel if they step on something, which can lead to infection and even amputation and all these complications,” Flowers said. “So we try to hit on all of these things, including a skin inspection and wo und care.”
All present at the awareness fair will be eligible to enter a drawing to win a glucose monitor.
Flowers said this is the first awareness fair of its kind in the area.
“Our goal is to be more active in the community,” she said.
Others interested in hosting an awareness activity can contact her at taylor.flowers@encompasshealthcom.
