Community Health Center of Meriden is pleased to announce that it has received a generous donation in the amount of $1,420 from the South Meriden Lions Club, Inc. This funding will be used towards enhancing programs for diabetic patients at the health center.
Community Health Center of Meriden offers several services and specialty programs that aim to educate patients with diabetes, or at risk for becoming diabetic, and help them to manage their symptoms and live a healthier life. These programs include peer support groups, annual health and awareness events, Living Smart, Living Fit (a fitness and nutrition program for overweight women), one-on-one nutrition counseling, podiatry, and diabetic retinopathy screenings.
The donation will support the services the health center offers to the growing population of people living with diabetes. “More than 1,400 of Community Health Center of Meriden’s patient population is suffering from diabetes or a related condition,” said Yvette Highsmith-Francis, director of Community Health Center, Inc.’s’ Hartford and New Haven County sites, which includes CHC of Meriden. “The more educational opportunities and specialty care we can provide these patients with, the better their health outcomes will be. We thank the South Meriden Lions Club for their generosity.”
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Diabetes is a prevalent chronic health condition in the United States with alarming statistics. According to the American Diabetes Association nearly 26 million adults and children in the U.S., or 8.3% of the population, have diabetes. Another 79 million have prediabetes and are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Each year approximately 2 million new cases of diabetes are diagnosed in people aged 20 years and older, and yet, it is estimated that 7 million go undiagnosed. It is estimated that the total national cost of diagnosed diabetes in the U.S. is $173 billion.
