Expanded diabetes center opens today – News – capecodtimes.com … – Cape Cod Times (subscription)

Cynthia McCormick @Cmccormickcct

WEST BARNSTABLE The YMCA Cape Cod is holding a grand opening of its newly renovated Weny Diabetes Resource Center at 5 p.m. today with an emphasis on nutrition counseling and classes for Cape Codders with diabetes and prediabetes.

Were trying to make this free and open to the public, said YMCA of Cape Cod CEO and President Stacie Peugh.

Individuals diagnosed with type 1 or 2 diabetes are entitled to five free visits with nutritionist Lauren Kunkler, Peugh said.

As part of its diabetes programming, the YMCA of Cape Cod also hosts prediabetes education and lifestyle coaching classes at the Mashpee-based Community Health Center of Cape Cod, Harbor Health Services in Hyannis, Duffy Health Center in Hyannis and the Falmouth Service Center, Peugh said.

The YMCA is planning to launch a support group for people with diabetes in collaboration with NAMI Cape Cod & the Islands, an advocacy group for people with mental illness, Peugh said.

There is actually a correlation between depression and diabetes, Peugh said during an interview in the newly renovated resource center, located by the front door of the YMCA.

With its blond wood shelving, soft blue-green walls and clear plastic furniture, the resource center is fairly small in size but was designed to appear bright and inviting, said Paula Drury of Brown, Lindquist Fenuccio & Raber Architects, the architect/designer for the project.

Located since 2008 at the back of the YMCA building where the front door used to be situated the new position is designed to attract the attention of the hundreds of people who enter the Y each day, Peugh said.

In addition to individual consulting, the diabetes center was designed to serve as a library and resource center for people with diabetes and their families, Drury said.

Websites relating to diabetes and health care have been built into two Apple desktop stations, and books and informational packets fill the resource centers book shelves.

The space and services offered are designed to help guide people past nutrition information overload and into useful, health-enhancing practices, Peugh said.

Diabetes is considered a metabolism disorder that affects the way the body uses food, according to information online from Cape Cod Healthcare.

The pancreas of diabetics either produces too little insulin, or the cells of the body do not respond to the insulin that is produced, according to the fact sheet.

The resulting glucose accumulation in the body can lead to multiple health issues including heart disease, kidney disease, stroke, nerve damage and blindness.

According to a public information platform called DataUSA, 8.6 percent of Barnstable County residents are living with diabetes. The percentage was based on data collected in 2013.

Todays open house will feature an appearance by Roger Ludwig, a trustee with the Weny Charitable Trust, and a discussion of the centers new partnership with NAMI, Peugh said.

Refreshments will be served. Peugh said the Weny Charitable Trust,which contributed $1 million to the expansion of the YMCA of Cape Cod 10 years ago, funded the relocation and renovation of the diabetes resource center with a gift of $100,000.

Follow Cynthia McCormick on Twitter: @CmccormickCCT.

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Expanded diabetes center opens today - News - capecodtimes.com ... - Cape Cod Times (subscription)