Live Better with Diabetes
Living with diabetes can mean a constant struggle to lose weight, count carbohydrates, control blood sugar, and avoid problems. It can leave you feeling tired and depressed and unable to do the things you love. Make sure YOU are in charge—not your diabetes.
A free, online Better Choices, Better Health®—Diabetes workshop can help. Sign up at: www.RestartLiving.org/Diabetes
Developed and tested at Stanford University, a Better Choices, Better Health®—Diabetes workshop can help you:
Gain the skills to manage problems like glucose monitoring and medication records.
Learn to handle difficult emotions like stress and guilt.
Communicate better with family, friends and your medical team.
Benefit from the support of others who understand what you’re going through.
Online, Easy to Follow, On Your Schedule
Log on when you want to—in the morning, the afternoon, evening, whenever works for you.
Participate from any computer with an Internet connection, even a dial-up connection.
Join a group of 25 people in each workshop, with new sessions posted each week for six weeks.
Participate in group problem-solving and other guided exercises.
Set your own goals and make a step-by-step action plan to help you feel better.
New Highland HDMs Route
Several residents of the Mill Gap area, a previously underserved region of Highland County south of Monterey, will begin receiving home-delivered meals on a regular basis beginning Jan. 7.
Previously, individuals in that area could only receive the monthly frozen meals due to a lack of volunteers. Recently an individual who heard of this need at her church reached out to BH RD Kathryn Coit and offered to be a frequent volunteer for that location, spurring a new effort to find other volunteers and eligible homebound individuals for that area. An article in the Recorder and individual contacts brought in many referrals and several additional volunteers. Some individuals declined the meals and some were screened out as ineligible, but six people will begin receiving this service now.
Some volunteers with the Monterey/Bluegrass route are adding another day to their monthly schedule. Other volunteers are new to the program. Valerie Lowry will be the scheduler of volunteers for the Mill Gap route.
All of these people are greatly appreciated!
First Holiday Hoedown for Second Wind Was Held
Over 60 individuals participated in the Highland Second Wind’s first, hopefully annual, Holiday Hoedown Dec. 8 at the Bluegrass Ruritan Building.
The youngest dancer was aged 2! We didn’t ask about the oldest, of course, but we do know there were several enthusiastic partiers in their 80s!
Eugene and Ellen Ratcliffe, volunteers who taught earlier dance classes, also volunteered to call the dances and Allegheny Mountain Radio DJ Doug Smith assisted as well. Thanks also go to the Ruritans and their president Polly Newlon for their help and donated use of the building and to all members of the Highland Senior Services Local Council for their planning and assistance that evening. Hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and Christmas cookies were served.
Admission and “purchase” of food was all by voluntary contribution and the event cleared just over $252. The Hoedown was advertised in The Recorder and on the local radio station, and 25 posters were displayed in Monterey, Franklin, McDowell, and Warm Springs for a couple of weeks prior to the event.
Medical Transportation Service for Bath-Highland Announced
The following article appeared in the Dec. 13 edition of The Recorder, with a photo of Van Drivers Mike Handlin, Bath, and Hap Darragh, Highland.
VPAS Now Offering Transportation Service
Drivers for Bath-Highland Senior Transportation are Mike Handlin (left) for Bath County and James “Hap” Darragh (right) for Highland County. (Photo courtesy Valley Program for Aging Services) Drivers for Bath-Highland Senior Transportation are Mike Handlin (left) for Bath County and James “Hap” Darragh (right) for Highland County. (Photo courtesy Valley Program for Aging Services) MONTEREY and WARM SPRINGS — Valley Program for Aging Services is now bringing low-cost transportation to residents 60 and over in Bath and Highland counties. VPAS offers travel by van to medical appointments in and outside the region for $4 to $10 per patient roundtrip.
“Residents in Bath and Highland struggle to get to doctor appointments because of the lack of public transportation,” said Kathryn Coit, regional director for the Bath-Highland region. “We’ve come up with a solution that should help ease the burden on family members and friends.”
More than one-quarter of residents in the Bath-Highland region are aged 60 or older.
The service, available immediately, will provide transportation to residents of Bath County on the first and third Tuesday of each month. Transportation will be available to Highland residents on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month. Additional times may be available upon request.
Workshop Participant Shared Appreciation for CDSME
Chronic Disease Self-Management Education (CDSME) Workshop Participants are encouraged to share their thoughts about the program with Stanford Patient Education Research Center, their Health Care Provider, and CDSME Coordinator Joyce Nussbaum.
Recently Joyce received a letter of thanks from a participant who stated that her neighbor invited her to attend the workshop and that “(t)he class gave me an opportunity to meet others like myself with some of the same problems, who also offered sensible solutions to some of the questions. It was fun. Because of this class I have visited my doctor, who diagnosed my problems and I am now taking physical therapy to restore my confidence in walking without fear of falling… My attitude and outlook are positive, I cannot say enough about the benefits of this book and the class… thank you for being involved in the ‘care and feeding’ of my generation, I am 81 years old, and look forward to each new day.”
Affordable medical transportation now available in Bath Highland regions
Dorothy Stephenson
Valley Program for Aging Services is now bringing low-cost transportation to residents 60 and over in Bath and Highland counties. VPAS offers travel by van to medical appointments in and outside the region for $4 to $10 per patient roundtrip.
“Residents in Bath and Highland struggle to get to doctor appointments because of the lack of public transportation,” said Kathryn Coit, regional director for the Bath Highland region. “We’ve come up with a solution that should help ease the burden on family members and friends.”
Over one-quarter of residents in the Bath Highland region are aged 60 or older. Read more
Contact Us
Kathryn Coit, Regional Director
Bath-Highland Region
Valley Program for Aging Services
35 Spruce Street
Courthouse Annex
Monterey, VA 24465
(540) 468-2178
kathryn@vpas.info
