Diabetes

Wayne Memorial is very active in the fight against diabetes. We have offered diabetes education and support group services for more than a decade.

Support Group: 108 Club

This group traditionally meets on Sunday afternoons several times a year.

Contact Certified Diabetes Educator Carol Kneier, MS, RD, CDE for more information (570) 253-8149.

Classes: Living Well With Diabetes

Every 24 hours in the United States 3,600 hundred cases of diabetes are diagnosed, 614 people die, 225 amputations occur and 120 kidneys fail from diabetes according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These numbers are frightening to the 21 million Americans who have this disease. Wayne Memorial Hospital’s diabetes classes are geared to help diabetics avoid serious medical complications. Carol Kneier, a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator, helps people not only live with diabetes but live well with the illness.  Her classes usually take place on three or four consecutive Thursdays or Tuesdays at the Hospital,   Some evening classes are also available.

“Diabetes doesn’t have to control you. You control it,” Kneier tells her students. Her course, called “Living Well With Diabetes,” covers a basic understanding of diabetes and medications used to control it; the benefits of exercise; the role of food in diabetes care; menu planning and label reading; and preventing problems, glucose monitoring and good care from head to toe. Long-term or newly diagnosed diabetics will benefit from these classes.

Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin, a hormone needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy for daily life. Both genetics and environmental factors such as obesity and lack of exercise appear to play roles in the development of the disease, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA).

Pre-registration is required for all courses.  For information and registration about upcoming classes, contact Carol Kneier at (570) 253-8149. The cost of the three-session program is $50 per person. Financial assistance is available for those who qualify. Each person registered may bring one support person.