AGH DIABETES EDUCATION PROGRAM RECEIVES FORMAL RECOGNITION

The American Diabetes Association awarded AGH the prestigious Education Recognition Certificate for their quality diabetes self-management program

Berlin, Md. – Over the last twelve years, the staff at the Diabetes Outpatient Education Program have helped people with diabetes learn how to better manage their disease,, empowering them to stave off debilitating and life-threatening conditions like heart disease, blindness, and stroke.

The program was originally piloted in 2005 to address an overwhelming community need for this kind of education and received formal recognition from the American Diabetes Association in 2008 for providing quality diabetes self-management education. That prestigious Education Recognition Certificate has just been renewed.

The Association’s Education Recognition Certificate assures that educational programs meet the National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education Programs. These Standards were originally developed in 1983 and have been revised by the diabetes community four times since, most recently in 2012.

Programs apply for Recognition voluntarily. Programs that achieve Recognition status have a staff of knowledgeable health professionals who can provide participants with comprehensive information about diabetes management. “The process gives professionals a national standard by which to measure the quality of services they provide,” comments Darlene Jameson, AGH Diabetes Outpatient Program Coordinator. “And, of course, it assures the consumer that he or she will receive high-quality service.” Education Recognition status is verified by an official certificate from ADA and is valid for four years.

According to the American Diabetes Association, there are 29.1 million people or 9.3% of the population in the United States who have diabetes. While an estimated 21 million have been diagnosed, unfortunately, 8.1 million people are not aware that they have this disease. Each day more than 3,900 people are diagnosed with diabetes. Many will not learn they have diabetes until they are treated for one of its life-threatening complications – heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, blindness, nerve disease or amputation. About 1.4 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in people aged 20 years or older in 2014 in the US. Diabetes contributed to 234,051 deaths in 2010, making it the seventh leading cause of death in the US. Overall, the risk for death among people with diabetes is 50% greater than that of people of similar age but without diabetes.

The American Diabetes Association is the nation’s leading non-profit health organization supporting diabetes research, advocacy and information for health professionals, patients and the public. Founded in 1940, the Association conducts programs in communities nationwide.

For more information about the Diabetes Outpatient Education Program at Atlantic General Hospital, please call 410-641-9703.

About Atlantic General Hospital

Atlantic General Hospital has been providing quality health care to the residents of Worcester, Wicomico, Somerset (Md.) and Sussex (Del.) counties since May 1993. Built by the commitment and generosity of a dedicated community, the hospital’s state-of-the-art facility in Berlin, Md., combines old-fashioned personal attention with the latest in technology and services. It provides quality specialty care such as weight loss surgery, orthopedics, outpatient infusion and chemotherapy for individuals with cancer or blood/autoimmune disorders, and a comprehensive women’s diagnostic center. Atlantic General Health System, its network of more than 40 primary care providers and specialists, care for residents and visitors throughout the region. For more information about Atlantic General Hospital, visit www.atlanticgeneral.org.