“Strengthening our CORE Families”

Authors: Florene Linnen, Joyce Linnen, LaShawna Armstrong and Sonya C. Smalls

The Georgetown County Diabetes CORE Group is actively working with the REACH US: SEA-CEED, The Frances P. Bunnelle Foundation, the S.C. Diabetes Initiative, and the St.Luke Community Action group to improve health for families within the St. Luke Community. The interventions focus on healthier eating and improved physical activities.

Objective:

Improve physical activity and healthy eating for families living in the rural area of the St. Luke Community (Georgetown County). Evaluate the effect of healthier lifestyle on body weight and family satisfaction.

Methods:

  • Assess exercise habits and preferences, current shopping, available foods, food preparation, and eating habits of participant families.
  • Provide screenings for weight, hypertension, diabetes and cholesterol
  • One-on-one family education classes adapted to meet the needs of individual families.
  • Provide classes on nutrition to understand food labels, proper serving sizes and portions.
  • Provide cooking classes to demonstrate how to prepare delicious healthy meals.
  • Assist clients with improving grocery shopping techniques through grocery store trips.
  • Explore methods for improving physical fitness with demonstration/return demonstration and practices.
  • Organize community events where participating families encourage other community members/families to become involved in improving nutrition and physical fitness hypertension.

Results:

When provided with personalized health information, taught techniques and skills for purchasing and cooking healthier foods, and proper serving sizes, 15 families have improved physical activity, improved food purchasing and preparation and demonstrated proper serving sizes for most foods. These changes have lead family members with diabetes and hypertension to lower their medicine intake, reduce body weight and improve their health and overall satisfaction with the program. Family members have attributed their changes in lifestyle with improved health outcomes and have shared their satisfaction with the program with other community members. Additionally, over 300 people have participated in health screenings within the St. Luke community where persons discovered they were at risk or had kidney disease, diabetes, and hypertension.

Conclusion:

For lifestyle changes to be effective, the community must be provided with the proper tools and instructions for improving their lifestyles, along with tools for implementing the changes. The participants can then share their successes with others with the goal of creating and sustaining community changes for healthier lifestyles.