Support Groups
Parkinson's Disease Information and Support Group
(PDF, 190KB, 2 Pages)
Prenatal Care in Support Groups
The O’Connor Hospital Diabetic Support Group goal is to make a difference in blood glucose control through food choices. Everyone needs to eat a variety of foods that contain the right amounts of carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, fiber and water. Our focus is how to include these in your daily routine and still keep your blood glucose levels near to normal to reduce or prevent the complications of diabetes. This includes teaching what carbohydrates, protein and fat are, what the sources are, how to eat and when, how exchange lists can be a learning tool, how to read food labels, medication use, how exercise affects your blood sugar, and how to avoid long term complications from diabetes. It is important to know that diabetes can be controlled with constant monitoring, using medications properly, maintaining and managing weight and routine exercise and good diet choices. The support group provides an opportunity for those dealing with diabetes to exchange ideas that may make a difference in their daily activities and set goals on how to control their blood sugar levels.
Diabetes affects 7% of the population of the United States, or 20.8 million people, including children and adults. Of this group only 14.6 million have been diagnosed, the rest have the condition but are currently untreated. In addition to these numbers, there are an estimated 54 million people that are pre-diabetic. Diabetes is a contributing factor for heart disease, stroke, hypertension, kidney disease and other chronic conditions.
We encourage our patients to work with their team of healthcare providers to help them realistically set goals and outcomes. Controlling diabetes is an ongoing activity, and you will need to find a level of exercise, food intake and medication that work well for you. This needs to be done with both medical intervention and personal efforts. The Director of Endocrinology at Bassett Healthcare is invited to O’Connor to hold a teaching session for the opening class in September, making those attending aware of the latest trends in diabetes. Additionally, guest speakers include the O’Connor Hospital Pharmacist to discuss medications, food and drug interactions, and the affect drugs have on blood sugar levels as well as outside sources to demonstrate home glucose monitoring equipment.
Our community is invited to attend class, held the third Monday of the month, September through May, at 10 am in the O’Connor Hospital Conference Room. As a leading healthcare provider in our community, this is one more way we can encourage good health as well as being a partner in your healthcare.
Prenatal Care in Support Groups
The Centering Pregnancy Program is a model of empowerment to women to take control of their bodies, their pregnancies, and their families. It is also a model of empowerment to health care providers to share their care giving with their clients.
The Centering Pregnancy Program changes prenatal care by taking the woman out of the exam room and into groups for their care. After they have their initial intake into obstetric care in the office space they are then invited to join groups of other women with similar due dates. The groups form between 12 and 16 weeks of pregnancy and meet every month then biweekly meetings into the postpartum visit.
The women engage in self- activities of weight, blood pressure, and estimation of gestational age. They record this on their chart. With the provider they listen to the fetal heartbeat and measure for uterine growth.
They then meet in a group facilitated by the provider and are able to share in discussing topics of interest to pregnancy, childbirth, parenting, and personal growth. These fifteen hours together over several months allows the provider with an extraordinary opportunity to observe and interact with the group.
This is a pilot program at O’Connor Specialty Clinic for MIBH. Kathy Morely RN, Manager of Specialty Clinics of O’Connor Hospital is assisting Gail Phillips CNM in managing this program.
For more information, call Kathy Morley at 607 746-0525.