Free Diabetes Education Program Returns to Pasadena Senior Center

In response to rising healthcare costs, Huntington Health and Pasadena Senior Center are launching a new session of their free Diabetes Empowerment and Education Program (DEEP) in January 2024.

The program, which originally began in 2022 and runs approximately four times annually, has demonstrated success in improving participants’ blood sugar levels and health management skills.

This comprehensive initiative provides essential diabetes education and support to community members through a curriculum licensed by the University of Illinois at Chicago.

“We are a community outreach team within Huntington Health. We are RNs, and we’re out in the community at 12 different sites… we see the whole family and we realize what the needs are from our health screenings that we do on a monthly basis,” explains Kathleen Eastwood, RN, BSN.

The program is part of a 15-year partnership between Huntington Health and Pasadena Senior Center.

Classes will run every Wednesday from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. for six weeks starting January 29, 2024, at the Pasadena Senior Center located at 85 E. Holly St. Each session monitors participants’ weekly progress through blood sugar, blood pressure, and weight measurements.

Limited to 10 participants per session, the program provides specialized instruction from Huntington Health dieticians.

“We take a small group of people to make it no more than 10… The first class is understanding the human body… The fifth class, which is a very important one, is health management through meal planning. We actually zoom in and outpatient dietician at Huntington to teach that class,” says Eastwood.

Previous participants have shown significant health improvements.

“I saw their blood pressures improve. I saw their blood sugars improve dramatically. I saw them empowered to reach out to a specialist, perhaps an endocrinologist to help them manage their disease better, seeing incredible changes,” Eastwood notes.

The program has also fostered a supportive community.

“It becomes very much a support group… some of these participants have become good friends and they reach out to each other and they almost done give each other resources. Someone will come in with an article that really empowered them and they’ll share it, or a recipe or their exercise routine,” Eastwood explains.

The curriculum covers six key components: understanding the human body, diabetes and risk factors, body monitoring, physical activity, meal planning, and complications prevention. It is open to individuals with pre-diabetes or diabetes, their caregivers, and anyone seeking to understand diabetes self-care.

Registration is handled exclusively through Huntington Health’s Community Outreach department. Those interested can contact Fatima Rojas at (626) 397-3376 or email: fatima.rojas@huntingtonhealth.org.

While few slots remain for the January session, additional classes will begin in March 2025.