Library to host diabetes workshop

NEWTON — Quality Insights Quality Innovation Network, supported locally by Healthcare Quality Strategies, Inc. has partnered with Premier Health Associates to offer free diabetes workshops as part of the Everyone with Diabetes Counts (EDC).
The next workshop will take place at the Sussex County Library - Main Branch on Morris Turnpike in Newton on Mondays, April 3 until May 8 from 10 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.
The EDC program is a national initiative of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The program offers free self-management workshops that are open to people with Medicare who have diabetes, their family members and caregivers.
Developed at Stanford University, the Diabetes Self-Management Program consists of an interactive six-week workshop series where individuals learn about the importance of self-management of their diabetes through various tools, behavior modifications, and coping techniques.
According to CMS, there are 3,702 people with Medicare living with diabetes in Sussex County.
Dr. Sameer Stas of Premier Health Associates acknowledges the need for this program in Sussex County.
“The complications of diabetes in older adults can be devastating, and if these workshops can help even one of my patients prevent some of those complications, it is a huge success,” Dr. Stas said. “Self-management of diabetes is imperative and I will encourage my Medicare patients with diabetes to attend.”
Ten Sussex County residents successfully graduated from the first workshop that took place in August. In continuation of this partnership, there will be workshops on a quarterly basis.