Since Central Peninsula Diabetes Center’s open house, the team has reached a broader range of individuals who need help with their diabetes care.
Thanks to a community needs assessment in 2022, diabetes care was identified as a need in the Central Peninsula area’s health care system. Thus, the Diabetes Center was created.
Considering that the center has only been open for six months, the community has been very receptive to the new area for help and has been nothing but positive.
It hasn’t only been a positive experience for the patients who need the care and the nurses who provide it.
According to Nurse Practitioner Anna Boutwell, having this new space has proven extremely helpful over the past month, especially when connecting with patients who might be scared about learning they have diabetes.
“Patients are really appreciative that there is a dedicated space, first of all. They know this is all about diabetes when they’re coming in. They know that they have devices that they’re monitoring the blood sugar with, which is unknown, and the medications that they’re taking, you know, we’re able to understand what they’re for and, you know, kind of able to put that picture together,” said Boutwell.
Boutwell explains that much of the information patients find online can also be conflicting. Considering that so much information is available online, it’s hard to determine what information is actually meant for the individual. This center ensures that every visit is personalized to the patient’s helpful needs. For reasons like this, having a Diabetes Care and Education Nurse makes the experience more personal.
“I think the extra time the educator [provides] is important because patients come in with a lot of questions. And they fill out in several questionnaires here and they come in their new patient paperwork, and so we’re able to begin to address right at their very first visit, kind of the burning questions that they have about diabetes that maybe they felt like they didn’t have answers to or they weren’t sure about,” said Boutwell.
Crystal Allen, the Diabetes Care and Education Nurse, says that diabetes education is extremely important to observe, considering this is not only a long-term condition but also something that can change over time.
“We go through different seasons in life and changes and [diabetes is also a] progressive condition, so it just can change over time as well. There’s always kind of that importance that stays with being evaluated currently with what’s going on and what your needs are currently. It just becomes important to have intermittent education as things change in your life and as your treatment plan changes and just fully understanding that [diabetes self-management] really is an important piece of diabetes care,” says Allen.
Both Boutwell and Allen express great pleasure at the fact they have been able to help the community in such a positive way and look forward to serving members of the Central Peninsula for years to come.