By Merle Monahan/Contributing Writer
merlemonah@aol.com

FRANKLIN
A program designed to educate patients with diabetes on how to manage and live with the disease is well underway at two sites in Franklin, but classes are not completely full and there is still time to join, said instructor Dana Stallings.

“Unfortunately, we started in February when the weather was bad and many people who would have attended just couldn’t get out” she said. “We urge those people to join. There is no charge and we’ve tried to accommodate everyone by holding the classes at convenient locations.”

The grant-funded Diabetes Community Empowerment Program, is sponsored by the Franklin Health Department, the American Diabetes Association and the Obici Healthcare Foundation and is open to residents of Franklin and Southampton County.

Upcoming classes will be on April 11, April 14, May 19, June 23, July 21 and Aug. 18. Classes are in the Martin Luther King Jr. Center on Oak Street in Franklin at 5:30 p.m.

On May 23, June 20, July 18 and Aug. 22, classes will be in Southampton Memorial Hospital. All sessions at the hospital will begin at 10 a.m.

A health expo and graduation ceremony will take place for all participants of DCEP at the Regional Workforce Development Center in Franklin on Sept. 12, Stallings said.

The program includes free blood pressure, blood sugar and HgA1C screenings provided by the diabetic clinic at the Franklin Health Department.

Sessions will provide general diabetes information, including medication management, good nutrition, physical activity, as well as available resources in the community, said Stallings.

“We’ve also scheduled a grocery store tour in partnership with Farm Fresh,” she added.

Stallings said that to complete the program participants need only to attend one course per month at the location and time of their choice.

“This is a program that can benefit both diabetics and caregivers,” she said. “We urge all who may need this information to get involved.”