Diabetes Help When You Need It

DSMES services can help you stay healthy and thrive with diabetes.

Receiving support and education when you have diabetes is critical. Diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) services can help you stay healthy and thrive with diabetes. Speak with your doctor about a referral for DSMES.

When you find out you have diabetes, you may have questions about what you can eat or how to check your blood sugar. You may worry about how it will impact your life.

When you have diabetes, managing blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol are all equally important to live a healthy life. Also essential are key lifestyle choices – including the foods you eat, your physical activity, and taking care of your mental health.

Do you wish you had someone who could answer all your questions? Even someone who could help you manage the day-to-day challenges of living with a chronic health condition? Could you use some extra encouragement when it comes to making changes in your life? Working with a diabetes educator trained in DSMES can be a big help.

You can learn everything you need to know to take care of yourself and your diabetes with DSMES.

The Encouragement You Need

Through DSMES, you’ll get to work one-on-one with a diabetes care and education specialist, a certified professional who is specially trained in diabetes care and management. Your diabetes care and education specialist can:

Help you learn how to manage your blood sugar.
Explain how diabetes medicines work.
Help you figure out the best type of blood sugar monitoring device for you and your situation.
Suggest tools to help you track your progress.
Help you reduce your risks for complications.

There is more to diabetes than medical management. Your diabetes care and education specialist can help you plan healthy meals that fit your life, your budget, and your family’s taste buds. They also can help you plan physical activity around your family’s schedule – and with your family!

Diabetes care and education specialists know the challenges of day-to-day life with diabetes. And they know how you can navigate them. Their expert support can help you thrive while living with diabetes.

When to Seek DSMES During Your Life

There are at least four times you can benefit from DSMES services:

When you first find out you have diabetes
During yearly follow-up visits with your doctor
When it’s harder to manage diabetes, such as
- When you lose access to food or money
- When you have stress or anxiety
- When you have new health issues
- When you start taking a new medicine
During changes in life, such as a change in your living situation or health insurance

While these are important times to seek DSMES, you can benefit from extra support at any point in your life. Make DSMES part of your regular diabetes care plan. Learn more about when to seek DSMES.

Live Your Healthiest Life

With DSMES, you’ll receive a coach, a teacher, and a cheerleader, all in one! In addition to in-person visits, telehealth may be an option for some people. This allows you to receive support from your diabetes educator over the phone from the comfort of your home.

Another benefit of DSMES? You can reduce the need for medicine and possibly save yourself from emergency room visits. Plus, your diabetes educator can help you identify cost-saving programs.

DSMES services gives you the power to feel better today and to stay healthier in the future.

Don’t delay – DSMES can mean the difference between living with diabetes and living well with diabetes. Speak with your doctor about a referral for DSMES. If you already have a referral, find a diabetes care and education specialist.

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