The Charles Town Library has been partnering with WVU Medicine to bring more awareness and solutions to those in our community who suffer from the effects of Type 2 Diabetes. The Center for Disease Control has created a number of self-help videos that could be a bonus for people unable to make it to meetings, workshops or regular doctor visits.

The videos are in both English and Spanish. Please let us know if there are other resources that are needed to help control the terrible impacts of diabetes. We will also be receiving a number of free books that will be distributed here at the library in the near future.

CDC’s Diabetes Kickstart video series is now available in English and Spanish—Diabetes: un buen comienzo! The series aims to reach people living with diabetes and facilitate referrals to and participation in diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES).

DSMES services teach skills and strategies to help people manage their diabetes effectively. But uptake of DSMES is an enormous problem: fewer than 7% of people with diabetes participate in the first year after diagnosis. Lack of this critical training and support can mean serious short-term and long-term negative impacts on health and quality of life.

Diabetes Kickstart is an animated video series created by the CDC to help fill that gap and to raise awareness of and access to DSMES services. The series is designed to:

·        Introduce and explain the key concepts of diabetes management* and emphasize their critical importance to the health and well-being of people living with diabetes.

·        Deliver easily consumable information in an anytime, anywhere format at no cost to viewers.

·        Help people get started with day-to-day diabetes management or help them make changes to enhance management and improve health.

·        Support and increase the visibility of DSMES and help people get more out of DSMES when they participate.

* Based on the ADCES7 Self-Care Behaviors.