Wright Center: Lifestyle Changes Important in Curtailing Diabetes

Diabetes is so prevalent that it is rare not to know a family member or close friend living with the condition. Fortunately, with the help of modern medicine and healthy lifestyle choices, individuals can lead full, active, and healthy lives while effectively managing the disease.

Awareness efforts such as National Diabetes Month, observed each November, play a vital role in spreading timely and relevant information about diabetes.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 38 million Americans currently live with diabetes, while an estimated 88 million adults – more than one in three – have prediabetes, a condition in which blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not yet high enough for a type 2 diabetes diagnosis. Alarmingly, 80% of those with prediabetes are unaware of their condition.

In response to these concerning statistics, The Wright Center for Community Health is working to combat diabetes locally through its primary care services and its Lifestyle Medicine initiative, available at most of its health centers throughout Northeast Pennsylvania.

While medications and advanced treatments play an important role in maintaining long-term health, The Wright Center emphasizes the importance of a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to wellness. Through Lifestyle Medicine, individuals and families receive guidance to improve their overall health and quality of life by adopting and sustaining beneficial habits such as eliminating tobacco use, improving diet, managing stress, increasing physical activity, fostering personal relationships and social connections, and establishing healthy sleep routines for more restorative rest.

Earlier this year, The Wright Center partnered with the Northeast Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center and Quality Insights, a West Virginia-based leader in health care quality improvement, to offer the free, 26-session National Diabetes Prevention Program. This program helps individuals with prediabetes lower their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Eligibility requirements included being 18 or older, having a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or higher (23 or higher for Asian American participants), no prior diagnosis of type 1 or type 2 diabetes or end-stage kidney disease, and not being pregnant.

Developed by the CDC, the National Diabetes Prevention Program has been shown to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58% for adults aged 18–59 and by 71% for those aged 60 and older. Led by a trained lifestyle coach, the program guided participants in improving diet, increasing physical activity, and managing stress. Both The Wright Center and Quality Insights were pleased with the program’s outcomes, and The Wright Center received recognition from Quality Insights for its efforts and its annual review of diabetes and prediabetes care.

Additionally, The Wright Center recently earned a Gold Award from the American Heart Association (AHA) for improving care quality for patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors through the Target: Type 2 Diabetes program. This initiative addresses heart disease and stroke risks in patients with type 2 diabetes and leverages the AHA’s expertise to help health care organizations nationwide align patient care with the latest evidence- and research-based guidelines.