West Volusia takes the initiative on diabetes

PHOTO COURTESY ANN ADAMS
Knows what it’s like — Stetson University music professor Dr. Ann Adams will share her own experiences with diabetes, and share her music, at “Taking the Initiative on Diabetes,” 2-4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, in DeLand. Adams and Stetson professor of piano Dr. Michael Rickman will present an oboe-and-piano feature.

BEACON PHOTO/PAT HATFIELD
Community-health guru — O’Neill Foundation Executive Director Dr. Dan Hale has put together “Taking the Initiative on Diabetes.” The forum is set for 2-4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, at First Baptist Church of DeLand, 725 N. Woodland Blvd. The public is invited to learn more about diabetes, including how to prevent it, and how to manage it.

PHOTO COURTESY THE O’NEILL FOUNDATION
Diabetes expert — Dr. Annabelle Rodriguez, director of the Diabetes Management Program at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore, will be the featured speaker for “Taking the Initiative on Diabetes” in DeLand. Admission is free to the general public; those who want continuing-education credits pay $10.

40,000 county residents have the disease; many don’t know it

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Nov 4, 2009 - 8:54:26am

Did you know that more than 40,000 Volusians have diabetes? And, more than double that number are at risk for diabetes, heart disease and stroke because of pre-diabetes?

One-fourth of those people are unaware they have the disease.

In diabetes, the body does not produce or properly use insulin, a hormone needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into the energy needed for daily life. The result is too much sugar in the blood. Diabetes is also associated with heart and circulatory disease, and can cause blindness and kidney damage.

Stetson University psychology professor Dr. Dan Hale, executive director of the O’Neill Foundation for Community Health and director of the Community Health Initiative at Stetson University, is taking the initiative to help people with diabetes.

Hale and others will present a community-health forum called “Taking the Initiative on Diabetes” 2-4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, at First Baptist Church of DeLand, 725 N. Woodland Blvd.

The program is free and open to the public. It will include a musical feature by Stetson professors Dr. Ann Adams and Dr. Michael Rickman, on oboe and piano.

The O’Neill Foundation has sponsored several well-attended community-education forums during the past few years, including one on depression and another on Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Annabelle Rodriguez, director of the Diabetes Management Program at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore, will be featured at this year’s forum.

Rodriguez will answer questions about diabetes, including how to prevent it, how to manage it, and how family and friends can help.

The short musical program by Adams and Rickman will begin the session.

Adams has a special interest in the forum: She manages her own Type 1 or “insulin-dependent” diabetes.

“I was diagnosed in 1992,” Adams said.

Adams has taught at Stetson for 21 years, and also taught band at DeLand Middle School. She didn’t let diabetes interfere with her life. She read every book on it she could find, she said.

At the forum, Adams will share her experiences with diabetes, and how she manages it.

“I work full time, exercise, do anything anybody else does,” she said.

Adams is also excited about the mini-concert for oboe and piano, which she described as multicultural. She and Rickman will play three Russian pieces and music for three Brazilian Chorinos, or dances.

Through Daytona State College, one of the program sponsors, nurses, social workers and others involved in caring for people with diabetes can get continuing education (CE) credits by attending the forum. The cost for those who want to earn credit is $10 cash or check, payable at the door. For more information, or to register for CE credit, call 386-506-3522.

In addition to the session in DeLand, a morning session of “Taking the Initiative on Diabetes” is set for 9:30-11:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 6, at the News-Journal Center at 221 N. Beach St. in Daytona Beach.

The program is the beginning of the O’Neill Foundation’s outreach to people with diabetes, working with diabetes-education programs at Volusia hospitals. This long-term effort will include partnerships with Florida Hospital-DeLand and Florida Hospital-Fish Memorial in Orange City. For more information, call 386-943-4727.

The O’Neill Foundation for Community Health works with religious congregations, health-care organizations and community agencies to provide resources people need to maintain their own health or care for others. Read more online at www.oneillcommunityhealth.org.

Other sponsors of the diabetes initiative include all six hospitals in the county, along with Stetson University, Bethune-Cookman University, Halifax Health Hospice of Volusia-Flagler, the Volusia County Health Department, the Council on Aging of Volusia County, ElderSource and the Department of Elder Affairs.

— pat@beacononlinenews.com

Reader Comments

The comments posted below are posted by readers, not by The Beacon staff. These comments express the views and opinions of the authors, and not the administrators, moderators or webmaster. The comments forum is governed by these rules. Please use the report abuse link if you find offensive comments.

Comment on this article

Commenting is closed for this article.

If you would like to contribute a letter to the editor, please click here.

Did you find this story interesting or informative? Subscribe to The DeLand-Deltona Beacon to read more stories by Pat Hatfield, along with others from our award-winning writers. Subscribe now!