Local YMCA joins CDC for diabetes program

The Monroe County YMCA is one of only 11 YMCAs in the U.S. that has joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Diabetes Prevention
Program.

And with roughly 447,700 Indiana adults, 9.3 percent of the state’s population, affected by Type 2 diabetes, this can make a difference.

“With the Monroe County YMCA’s history of program innovation and collaboration, we were a natural partner with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” Susan Woods, diabetes prevention coordinator for the YMCA, said in an e-mail.

The Monroe County YMCA received a grant from the CDC in order to expand their National Diabetes Prevention Program.

The YMCA staff underwent training during the summer to begin diabetes prevention classes this fall, said Laura Hienrich, program director of the Diabetes Prevention and Control Program of the Indiana State Department of Health.

The Monroe County YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program is not the only one in town. Bloomington Hospital has a similar prevention program.

“It is not the same type of program, but both treat pre-diabetics,” Woods said.

The Diabetes Care Center at Bloomington Hospital offers a “Staying on Track” program to provide support for people with diabetes.

The Monroe County YMCA’s program is a 16-­session program that helps reduce the risk of a pre-diabetic who is in the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

“We focus on reducing and maintaining individual weight loss by 7 percent and increasing regular physical activity to approximately 150 minutes a week,” Woods said.

The instructors of the Diabetic Prevention Program are not lecturers.

“We are facilitating the group by encouraging interaction and community-building among the participants,” Woods said. “They will come to rely on one another.”

Through the Diabetes Prevention Program, participants who are of pre-diabetic status can reduce their risk of Type 2 diabetes by 58 percent.

The Monroe County YMCA’s second class started Sept. 7 and has eight participants.

“We feel very fortunate to have been chosen to implement this important adult health program,” Woods said.