Our Mission is...

  Providing access to quality diabetes education and support to reduce the burden of diabetes in North Carolina communities


 

 

 

The Diabetes Bus Initiative classes...coming to Scotland Memorial Hospital and Sampson County Hospital soon!......

We ARE The Diabetes Bus Initiative

In 2000, our founder and a small group of people with diabetes set out to address a need. People in rural and non-urban communities around North Carolina had little to no access to diabetes self-management classes and hospital programs offering these classes were closing despite the rise in diabetes.

Diabetes is complicated- ask anyone you know with diabetes. Day-to-day things like eating, activity level, exercise, stress, and medications all must be monitored for their effect on blood glucose. Diabetes gets more difficult to manage the longer you have it. It is often misunderstood and people with diabetes are sometimes blamed for having caused the diabetes by their lifestyle.

People new to diabetes and people who face worsening blood glucose management need help navigating this condition by someone who knows about it. Our educators are all Certified Diabetes Educators and are highly qualified at helping people learn the skills to manage their diabetes while maintaining their quality of life. We offer free classes in small town hospitals and doctor's offices in rural NC.

DMS works hard at buidling collaborative relationships with others striving for better, healthier North Carolinian's like: CCNC nurses, BeActive NC, Healthy Carolinians 2020, Eat Smart, Move More NC, and our many hospitals, providers, and clinics in the regions where we teach. 

We need your continued support so that we can meet our goal of reaching all of North Carolina by 2020, completing the high prevalence areas of the Piedmont and East before moving to Western NC. Last year, 84% of all expenses were spent on diabetes education programs to improve the health outcomes and quality of life of North Carolinian's living with diabetes. Please won't you help us lift the burden of diabetes one class location at a time?

 

 

The Diabetes Bus BLOG

The Holidays with Diabetes - 11/30/2011

As far as food goes, enjoy it! The holidays are a time when you are supposed to splurge a little bit. There is no need to be super careful about every little thing that you put in your mouth. Denying yourself causes feelings of annoyance and frustration, and that pressure will only heighten your stress.Go ...

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Stay Cool and Take Precaution in the HEAT! - 7/21/2011

Keep hydrated. Watch for signs of heat exhaustion. Exercise in a cool place. Check blood glucose levels at least four times per day, and more often if you are not feeling well. Remember that heat can cause blood glucose levels to fluctuate. Store your blood glucose meter, strips and insulin in a cool, ...

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Low Fat Diet may reduce Diabetes Risk - 5/24/2011

Small differences in diet, even without weight loss, can lower the risk for developing diabetes, according to a research. In this study, 69 healthy, overweight people who did not have diabetes - but were at risk for it - were placed on diets with modest reductions in either fat or carbohydrate for eight ...

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 DMS meets access need for diabetes self-management education in high diabetes prevalence areas of NC

As the map above indicates, there are still many counties of NC where diabetes prevalence is high that do not have a local hospital offering diabetes self-management education classes to help people manage their diabetes. These programs have been closing due to the limited health insurance reimbursement for this education and many who do not have the means to pay a co-payment. DMS has built a model that is lower cost and we do not bill for reimbursement, so anyone from the community may attend these classes at no-cost. Local hospital support and foundation grants allow us to offer these classes. We collaborate with the local hospital teams to ensure the sustainability of these programs into the future.

Why are classes so important? Since we have been collecting data, the people  with uncontrolled diabetes who attended the class series have shown a reduction in HbA1c of 2.6% which significantly improves their health and reduces the likelihood of diabetes complications. People with uncontrolled diabetes who did not to attend the classes but were treated medically had a reduction in A1c of just 1.2%. (See the Clinical Outcomes Report above for details)

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