Coronavirus and your health

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Managing Diabetes — Even With the Coronavirus Keeping You Home

In these times of the coronavirus, you may feel overwhelmed with managing diabetes. But the Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support (DSMES) program can keep you on track.

DSMES helps you develop a realistic diabetes plan, solve problems and give you confidence to manage your diabetes. It may also help you:

  • Feel empowered.
  • Feel less stressed about diabetes.
  • Reach better A1C levels.
  • Manage blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
  • Eat healthy and engage in more physical activities.
  • Avoid serious health problems in the future.

Many practices offer telehealth diabetes education with recent guidance from the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid. The practices can set up one-on-one visits while you’re at home. The visits are temporarily reimbursed through Medicare, Medicaid and many insurers.

To learn more about how telehealth can help you manage your diabetes, watch the Cardiovascular Care & Telemedicine video.

If telehealth visits aren’t an option from your primary care or endocrinologist office, ADA Recognized National programs can provide virtual diabetes self-management education and support.

Even if you’ve been managing diabetes for some time, the American Diabetes Association recommends annual education to stay on track with your plan. So, ask your doctor for a referral to DSMES.

Find more information on Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support here. You can find a program near you at diabetes.org/findaprogram.

For details on how to prepare for your telehealth visit check out these tips.