Parma Hospital’s Diabetes Education Program Merits ADA Recognition

The prestigious American Diabetes Association (ADA) Education Recognition Certificate for a quality diabetes self-management education program was recently awarded to Parma Community General Hospital’s program. The ADA believes that this program offers high-quality education that is an essential component of effective diabetes treatment.

The Association’s Education Recognition Certificate assures that educational programs meet the National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education Programs. These standards were developed and tested under the auspices of the National Diabetes Advisory Board in 1983 and were revised by the diabetes community in 1994 and 2000. Education recognition status is verified by an official certificate from ADA and awarded for three years. Parma Hospital’s program was originally recognized in November 1998. Prior to the ADA program’s inception, Parma Hospital’s program was among only 13 in the state to be recognized by the Ohio Department of Health, said Parma Hospital Diabetes Educator Karen Krauth.

Programs apply for recognition voluntarily. Programs that achieve recognition status have a staff of knowledgeable professionals who can provide participants with comprehensive information about diabetes management. “The process gives professionals a national standard by which to measure the quality of services they provide,” says Krauth. “And it assures the consumer that he or she will likely receive high-quality service.”

According to the American Diabetes Association, there are 20.8 million people or 7 percent of the population in the United States who have diabetes. While an estimated 14.6 million have been diagnosed, unfortunately, 6.2 million people are not aware that they have this disease. Each day approximately 4,110 people are diagnosed with diabetes. Many will first learn that they have diabetes when they are treated for one of its life-threatening complications – heart disease and stroke, kidney disease, blindness, and nerve disease and amputation. About 1.5 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in people aged 20 years or older in 2005. Diabetes contributed to 224,092 deaths in 2002. Since 1987 the death rate due to diabetes has increased by 45 percent while the death rates due to heart disease, stroke, and cancer have declined.

The American Diabetes Association is the nation’s leading non-profit health organization supporting diabetes research, advocacy and information for health professionals, patients and the public. Founded in 1940, the Association has an area office in every state and conducts programs in communities nationwide.

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