PORT ARTHUR, TEXAS – In March 20, 2015 The Medical Center of Southeast Texas Diabetes Self-Management Education Program has been awarded continued Recognition from the American Diabetes Association. The program was originally recognized in 2002. This program offers high-quality education services to the patients we serve.

The prestigious ADA Education Recognition Certificate is a voluntary process which assures that approved education programs have met the National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education Programs. Programs that achieve Recognition status have a staff of knowledgeable physicians and health professionals who can provide state-of-the-art information about diabetes management for participants.

Self-management education is an essential component of diabetes treatment. One consequence of compliance with the National Standards is the greater consistency in the quality and quantity of education offered to people with diabetes. The participant in The Medical Center of Southeast Texas’s ADA Recognized program will be taught, as needed, self-care skills that will promote better management of his or her diabetes treatment regimen. The program covers the following topics as needed: diabetes disease process; nutritional management; physical activity; medications; monitoring; preventing, detecting and treating acute complications; preventing, detecting and treating chronic complications through risk reduction; goal setting and problem solving; psychological adjustment; and preconception care, management during pregnancy, and gestational management.

Assuring high-quality education for patient self-care is one of the primary goals of the Education Recognition program. “The process gives professionals a national standard by which to measure the quality of services they provide,” comments Heidi Wolf, Chief Nursing Officer for The Medical Center of Southeast Texas. “And, of course, it assures the consumer that he or she will receive high-quality service.” Through the support of the healthcare team and increased knowledge and awareness of diabetes, the patient can assume a major part of the responsibility for his/her diabetes management. Unnecessary hospital admissions and some of the acute and chronic complications of diabetes may be prevented through self-management education.