Workplace Health Strategies
Diabetes
Diabetes can cause serious health complications including heart disease, blindness, kidney failure, and lower- extremity amputations. According to the CDC, diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. Providing an opportunity for employees to be physically active, eat healthier and manage weight, can help prevent the development of diabetes and help those who already have diabetes keep it under control.
The estimated direct medical costs in the United States of people with diabetes is $116 billion annually, a per person average of 2.3 times higher than expenditures for those without diabetes. The indirect costs (disability, work loss, premature mortality) for people with diabetes are $58 billion annually (CDC, 2011 National Diabetes Fact Sheet).
Risk Factors for Diabetes:
- Being overweight or obese
- Having a parent, brother, or sister with diabetes
- Being of African American, American Indian, Asian American, Pacific Islander, or Hispanic American/Latino heritage
- Having a prior history of gestational diabetes or birth of at least one baby weighing more than 9 pounds
- Having high blood pressure measuring 140/90 or higher
- Having abnormal cholesterol with HDL (“good”) cholesterol 35 or lower, or triglyceride level 250 or higher
- Being physically inactive—exercising fewer than three times a week
Stay Healthy with Diabetes
- Measure your blood pressure
- Check your feet for sores at every doctor visit, and get a thorough foot exam at least once a year
- Have a hemoglobin A1C test at least twice a year, to determine what your average blood glucose level was for the past 2 to 3 months
- Test your urine and blood to check your kidney function at least once a year
- Test your blood lipids (fats)—total cholesterol; LDL, or low-density lipoprotein (“bad” cholesterol); HDL, or high-density lipoprotein (“good” cholesterol); and triglycerides at least once a year
- Get a dental checkup twice a year
- Get a dilated eye exam once a year
- Get an annual flu shot and a pneumonia shot
Strategies for Preventing Diabetes
- Offer blood glucose screenings
- Encourage risk factor assessment
- Reimbursement or assistance purchasing glucose monitoring strips
- Research chronic disease self-management programs that might be available
- Research diabetes prevention programs in your area
- Offer to cover nutritional counseling as a preventive measure
Better Choices, Better Health® SD Workshops
Millions of people live with chronic health conditions. BCBH-SD offers FREE workshops for adults and their caregivers to help them manage symptoms, be more active, and improve quality of life. Find out more about virtual & in-person sessions in South Dakota.
