SPONSORED CONTENT -- (StatePoint) More than 34 million Americans are living with diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and 90-95 percent of those diagnosed have Type 2 diabetes. With many Americans having deferred medical care since the start of the pandemic, delayed or overdue diabetes diagnoses are expected in the coming months. Experts encourage those living with diabetes and their loved ones to navigate the disease head-on and with confidence.

“Instructions given to those with a new diabetes diagnosis at the hospital are often one-size-fits-all and can feel rigid, so it’s fairly typical for a diagnosis to be met with some resistance or even denial at first,” says Jennifer Sheets, president and CEO of Interim HealthCare Inc., the nation’s leading franchise network of home healthcare, personal care, healthcare staffing, and hospice services.

As Sheets explains, a holistic, personalized approach to diabetes care can lessen symptoms while improving the quality of life for the individual impacted -- and their loved ones, and new   resources can help your family find its footing.

One such resource is “Caring for a Loved One With Diabetes,” a new guide from Interim HealthCare Inc. The latest offering in its HomeLife Enrichment series, the guide equips families with tools to care for the whole individual, not just one facet of diabetes management, including mind, body, and spirit, as well as the family dimension. According to Interim HealthCare Inc., this wide-angle approach can lead to more compassionate care, improved health and a positive outlook amid health challenges.

Sheets also suggests that families consider professional home-based care, which can serve not only as an educational extension of the doctor’s office, but an opportunity to tailor care in a personal way that makes sense to the patient.

“Making the lifestyle changes recommended by a physician after a diabetes diagnosis can be overwhelming,” explains Sheets. “By extending the education provided by a physician into a ‘real-life’ setting, home health clinicians and paraprofessionals get a total view of the patient to tailor a realistic and effective care plan.”

In the case of Interim HealthCare, which is anchored by more than 25 years in diabetic chronic care, its proprietary training programs enable home health clinicians and paraprofessionals to provide valuable education and assistance in familiar surroundings -- at home or in assisted living communities. This intimate, unedited view into an individual’s daily life results in care plans accounting for a patient’s specific needs, personal motivations and unspoken obstacles, for improved health management and ideally, a more rewarding and better quality of life.

“Patients are often more comfortable sharing with a home-based health professional than their doctor what their actual habits are. Whether it’s the occasional drink or consumption of food with lesser nutritional value, once a clinician knows what their patient is truly dealing with, they can help the patient make practical adjustments that can become part of everyday life and with that confidence, kickstart a new understanding and better management of their diabetes,” says Sheets.

To download the free diabetes caregiver guide, now also available in Spanish, visit info.interimhealthcare.com/diabetes-guide. To learn more about Interim HealthCare’s diabetes care program, contact a locally owned and operated office. Access the office locator at interimhealthcare.com/locations/.

“With knowledge and the power that unique home-centered care provides, living well with diabetes is absolutely possible,” says Sheets.

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