Health Care Provider

Whether you are an occupational medicine provider, health plan administrator, or diabetes educator, diabetesatwork.org has a wealth of resources to help you develop or incorporate diabetes information into current health programs. It can also provide the data you need to persuade company management that diabetes education can have a positive impact on employee health and the company's bottom line.

Some of the resources on this site that may be most helpful to you are as follows:

Making a Difference: The Business Community Takes on Diabetes

Making a Difference: The Business Community Takes on Diabetes is a report for business decision makers. It summarizes the economic and health consequences of diabetes and the benefits of investing in the prevention of diabetes complications. The report also provides a rationale for implementing diabetes-related health promotion activities and includes suggestions for increasing prevention practices at the worksite.

Assessment Tool

There are many chronic medical conditions vying for your company's health care dollar. Use this assessment tool to estimate the potential prevalence and costs associated with diabetes among your employees (as well as retirees). Making this estimate is a good first step in assessing whether a diabetes education program is appropriate for your company's needs.

Choosing A Health Plan

Selecting the best and most appropriate employee health care plans is one of your company's most important decisions. Read "Choosing a Health Plan" to gain insight into the special benefits and services health care plans should offer to help members with diabetes better manage their disease and reduce their risk for diabetes-related health problems.

Creating Health Education Programs: Using the Lesson Plans and Fact Sheets

Lesson plans are available for participants who have little knowledge about diabetes as well as those who have been diagnosed and need additional information. While most of the lesson plans focus on diabetes, many can be used with the general population.

Fact sheets can be easily e-mailed to employees, posted on central bulletin boards, or given as supplemental handouts to employees attending one of the lessons.

[ [The publications are available in portable document format (PDF). Follow this link to learn more about PDFs and PDF support for the visually impaired.[

Suggested topics for understanding general diabetes and health issues are:

General Diabetes Education

Lesson Plan

• "What Is Diabetes and How Is It Treated?"

Related Fact Sheets

• "Diabetes Myths"
• "Diabetes: What is It?"
• "Diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, Now What?"
• "Gestational Diabetes"
• "Supervisor's Guide to Diabetes"

Cardiovascular Risk Reduction

Lesson Plans

• "Controlling High Blood Pressure"
• "Modifying Fat Intake to Minimize Cardiovascular Risk"
• "Taking Good Health to Heart"

Nutrition, Weight Control, and Physical Activity

Lesson Plans

• "Getting Started With Weight Control: Increased Activity"
• "The Nutrition Guidelines for Good Health"

Related Fact Sheets

• "Cooking for the Person with Diabetes"
• "Diabetes: What’s to Eat?"
• "Meal Planning and Shopping for Diabetes"

Some suggested topics on more in-depth diabetes-related health issues and the lesson plans and fact sheets that support them are:

General Diabetes Education

Lesson Plan

• "Making Your Doctor Visit Count"

Related Fact Sheet

• "Medicines for Diabetes Control"

Managing Diabetes Complications

Lesson Plans

• "Managing the Highs and Lows of Type 2 Diabetes"
• "Preventing Complications of Diabetes"

Related Fact Sheets

• "Blood Glucose Monitoring"
• "Fighting Diabetic Complications"

Lesson Plan

• "Putting Your Best Foot Forward: Choosing Shoes To Prevent Diabetic Foot Problems"

Related Fact Sheet

• "Diabetes Foot and Skin Care"

Managing Diabetes at the Workplace

Fact Sheets

• "Helpful Hints for Shift Workers" (Under Construction)
• "Insulin Adjustment for Travel Days" (Under Construction)
• "What Can A Diabetes Support Group Mean to You"