How do you top the GlucoMON’s ease of use and effectiveness in changing behavior? With such a successful track record it’s hard to come up with the next great thing… and I think my team has done it again. Stay tuned for HEALTHIMO (launching January 1, 2010). Anyone want to take a guess?

Reposted from glucoKIDZ (http://glucokidz.com)

Halloween is tough for kids with diabetes. When all your friends are eating candy it seems really unfair. After all, most of us know that candy is just another word for “sugar”, and we need to watch how much sugar we eat every day. So how do you take care of your diabetes and still have fun at Halloween time?

Candy doesn’t have to be bad for you, as long as you know how much candy is enough. It’s true you can’t just eat all you want and stay in control of your diabetes. So…what can you do at Halloween? Here are some ideas.

Grab as much candy as you can, but just keep a little. Give the rest away to your friends. Sounds crazy? You’ll be the most popular person at school or in your neighborhood. It might even get you some special favors from your friends later. But be careful who you give the candy to since their parents may not want them to eat too much either, even though they don’t have diabetes. A little of the candy you keep can be eaten a couple of times a week instead of a fast carbohydrate at a meal or snack. For example, substitute a small Snickers bar for a bedtime snack. Make sure you do this with your doctor’s ok.

Another idea is to go to a Haunted House party. There are lots of those every year. You can hang out with your friends, get scared by the guy without a head or touch the slimy guts in the bucket. You can also work some of the foods there into your diabetes meal plan with your parent’s help.
The last idea is for the really tough GlucoKIDZ out there. YOU be the one who gives out the candy at your house. Try to give out healthier treats: small granola bars, sugar-free chewing gum, maybe even fresh fruit to people you know well (and who know you). Your parents can help you buy some healthy treats to give out.

Whatever you do, the most important thing to do is HAVE FUN at Halloween. After all, trick or treat is about being with friends and family; dressing up scary, pretty or just plain silly; sharing with others, and having a good scare every now and then. Having diabetes is no reason not to have fun at Halloween!

As the Project Director of the soon to launch Healthy Families of South Texas community telehealth network, I’m proud to share important news about this new program which expands on our previous work funded in part by grants from the USDA. The project will launch with a community registry so everyone can participate; not just people with diabetes. Then in January we’ll launch the second tier which takes our profile based education to another level - a kind of diabetes version of Amazon’s expert profile based recommendations meets Facebook. The third tier involves working with pregnant mothers with diabetes of all types in the hopes of preventing serious complications. Here’s a quick overview for anyone interested in participating. Note that access to this program is being provided at no cost to the registered members and the 3 years of federal grant dollars means it will continue to enhance the lives of people in this part of Texas for many years to come.

What is the Healthy Families Program?

* HFSTX is an education and health monitoring community resource designed to establish a home based support network around people with diabetes and at risk for diabetes.

Program Goals:

* To improve self-care for patients and their families by increasing their knowledge of better lifestyle choices.

* To provide encouragement and reinforcement.

* To extend access to care into the home vs an unrealistic emphasis on office visits.

How does it work?

* Through Internet and cell phone technology and postcards, enroll patients and their families in the Healthy Families Registry.

* Over time, the Registry helps them to enhance individualized profiles making it possible for their team to receive personalized education and support via email, cell phone text messages and post cards in the mail according to their own preferences.

Check back in a week or two to find out the url for the online home for this program as this is still being decided.