VAHA visits diabetic IDP to raise awareness on healthy lifestyle
Creating Awareness on Diabetes in Commemoration of World Diabetes Day 2018, under the theme "Diabetes and the Family" The family is an influential support system in the control and management of diabetes at family and community levels. This year, VAHA decided to reach out to diabetic IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) to raise awareness on healthy lifestyle, educate the family and also support the families with resources such as; glucometers and testing kits for home management and control. VAHA also went further to provide practical lessons on nutrition through which a healthy meal was prepared by VAHA’s nutritionist as a demo.
The take home message during this session was that “Nothing exist as a diabetic meal, as it’s the normal way everyone who wants to stay healthy should eat” To demonstrate this, the entire team joined the family in sharing in the demo meal. Through this home visits, we found out that most diabetic patients need psychosocial support as most hope for a day they will be declared free of Diabetes. A patient asked the team “why is t that I don’t take sugar, salt or seasonings, yet I haven’t been declared free of diabetes yet others who consume these things are not diabetic?’. It was an opportunity for us to provide support and hope to these patients in their lifelong journey.