Alabama
Community Diabetes Support Group
"If it wasn’t for the Heart Saver Project, we would be suffering."
- Elsie R. Pino
“It was hard for me for the first few months but the program is helping me. I am herding sheep and eating more vegetables. Before, I had no energy, just laying here. I like the service. It helped me be more on my feet.” (As told to an interpreter)
Elsie is 75 years old and was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 1987. She is a native Navajo speaker, lives alone in a one room house, and raises her own sheep, dyes the wool, and weaves beautiful rugs. Since joining the Heart Saver Project she has been able to lower her cholesterol and get better control of her blood sugar, which is helping reduce her risk for heart attack and stroke.
Through Heart Saver funding, we have the resources to go to Elsie’s home, bring her to the clinic for diabetes case management, and provide her with a Navajo-speaking case manager who has been trained in Navajo interpretation of diabetes medical terminology. Without these valuable resources, Elsie is one of many of our Navajo elders living with diabetes who would not be able to receive the quality diabetes care they so deserve. Beyond improving the health of our Navajo elders who, like Elsie, are living with diabetes, SDPI resources are helping our community preserve valuable Navajo traditions and culture. (Submitted by Heart Saver Project Staff)
Diabetes Program Participants
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Diabetes Care Providers
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