“Let’s Work Together To Make A Healthier You!”

My role as the Care Navigator, at María de los Santos (MdlS) Health Center, allows me to impact the health of patients through outreach, and education for preventive and follow-up care. Whenever I contact a patient or make an appointment with a specialist for a patient, I strive to not only become an advocate for the patient’s health, but also work to establish responsibility, within the patient, for their own health. Yet still, I often wonder if my efforts to help people understand the importance of adapting healthy habits in their lifestyles expands beyond the phone call or appointment. I often ask myself: “Could these patients benefit from a support team that keeps them accountable for their health?”

A very small, but impressionable, portion of my service thus far has been working with the nutritionist with her “Nutrition and Diabetes Management” classes every Tuesday. The 3-hour classes run in a five-week series, where participants learn how to manage their diabetes or, in some cases, reverse their pre-diabetic status through small, healthy lifestyle changes. The health center services mostly Spanish-speaking, Hispanic communities, whose diet largely consists of rice and fried starchy foods. Compared to non-Hispanic white Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans 66% higher risk of developing diabetes; the 5th leading cause of death in Hispanic communities. Leticia Tumax, the nutritionist at MdlS, always stresses to the participants how, little-by-little, these small changes in the way they cook, eat, and perform their daily physical activity can drastically eliminate many of their medical problems.

Each class has a different topic; from understanding how diabetes affects the body and the various ways in which it can be managed, meal planning, and even how to live a healthy life with diabetes. The class serves as a support system for various uncontrolled diabetic patients to collectively learn together about the disease and assist each other in making healthy lifestyle changes. My role in the class is to assist the nutritionist transitioning through the class; setting up glucometers, calculating BMIs, and recording goals for each participant. Quite often, I engage with the participants, seeking to learn about their lives and what inhibits them from controlling their diabetes. Their issues stem from lack of education about their medication and/or nutrition, not accepting the severity of the condition, and for most, they feel that they are fighting the battle alone.

The classes have become the gateway to Maria de los Santos’ initiative to become a more person-centered medical home; offering a group medical visit during the second and fifth class, where a medical provider comes and individually speaks to each participant and address their medical needs and concerns. Not only do participants have each other to keep them accountable for their goal, but also a support team consisting of a Nutritionist, Care Navigator and a medical providers who are there to help along the journey.

The latest cohort just finished its final class and one of the participants shared that he was so moved by the first class that he decided to change his eating habits and lost 7lbs by the fifth class. He also shared that he inspired his sister, also diabetic, to change her eating habits as well and she lost 12lbs! Hearing these words, left a strong impression on the class and made me think of something Leticia said to the group in a previous class: “You must accept the problem you have, make attainable plans and goals, have the urge to make changes, take control of your vices, and most importantly get the support you need. These are the things you need to do if you are serious about being in control of your diabetes and living healthier!”

This blog post was written by NHC Philadelphia member Jazzmin Boyd.
Jazzmin serves as the Care Navigator at DVCH: Maria de los Santos Health Center.