Here is the November installment of ideas for incorporating health programs into your overall library programming strategy brought to you by The Pulse, part of the Gale Health and Wellness Resource Center. Keep looking for us on the first of each month to find programming ideas for three months out. Still working on August and fall programming? Check out August: National Immunization Awareness Month, September: National Cholesterol Awareness Month, and October: National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. According to the latest available information (2011) from The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), diabetes affects 8.3% of the total U.S. population, and in 2010 close to 27% of Americans 65 and older had diabetes. As the leading cause of kidney failure, lower limb amputations (not caused by trauma), new cases of blindness among adults, a major cause of heart disease and stroke and the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, diabetes is a serious matter.
The good news is that Type 2 diabetes is somewhat preventable. In one study, The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), demonstrated that over a three-year period, losing weight and increasing physical activity may reduce reduce the development of Type 2 diabetes by 58% across all age groups and as much as 71% among adults aged 60 years or older.
Promoting American Diabetes Month at your library will be easy with free resources as well as information from Gale Health and Wellness Resource Center:
- Quick and Easy: printable puzzles and other activities for children and handy printables for adults.
- Featured Resources: books for children and adults and links to reliable information online
- Book Club: ideas for your book discussion group
- Community Resources: local agencies to contact
- Publicity Resources: free items to help you publicize American Diabetes Month at your library through social networking sites or traditional printed materials
- Fun Stuff: links to interactive information
Quick and Easy
Coloring Pages, Games, and Books for Children:
- Arthur Hooray for Health: Dealing with Diabetes activity sheets in both English and Spanish from PBS.
- Encouragement Stickers, Carb Counting Food Labels, Recipe Cards and a Meal Planner worksheet from Disney Family
- Choose My Plate coloring page from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) – divided plate and blank plate in English and Spanish
- Eat Well and Stay Fit family activity and information sheet is available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Portuguese and Haitian Creole from PBS
- Sam & Sandy Tell Their Story About Diabetes coloring book from the Wyoming Department of Health
- Checks and Boluses board game (to be played like Chutes and Ladders) and In Target board game from Grandma Sandy
- Easy Mazes from Grandma Sandy
- My Own Type 1 Diabetes Book, My Own Book About Pumping and A Special Kind of Pump from Grandma Sandy
Printables for Adults:
- Activity Log, Blood Sugar Log and Food Diary from Reader’s Digest
- Emergency Checklists for Type 1 Diabetes
Featured Resources
Books for Adults
Books For Children and Teens
Reliable Online Information:
- American Diabetes Association
- Canadian Diabetes Association
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Diabetes Public Health Resources
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – National Diabetes Fact Sheet, 2011
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Take Charge of Your Diabetes, a free book to download
- Diabetes Action Research and Education Foundation
- Joslin Diabetes Center affiliated with Harvard University
- Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
- Kids Health – Diabetes Center
- National Diabetes Information Clearing House – U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health
- National Institutes of Health - Medline Plus – Diabetes
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – National Institutes of Health – National Diabetes Education Program
- U.S. Department of Agriculture – Choose My Food Plate
Book Club
Observe National Diabetes Month this month by choosing this discussion-provoking book for your November book club.
Not Dead Yet – My Race Against Disease from Diagnosis to Dominance by Phil Southerland and John Hanc (Thomas Dunne Books, 2011)
From the author: “Part memoir, part sports adventure, Not Dead Yet tells the inspirational story of Phil Southerland’s battle with Type 1 diabetes [from age seven months] and how from diagnosis to sheer determination, Phil Southerland beat all odds and turned his diagnosis and his passion for cycling into a platform. From leading a Race Across America to now managing a world-class cycling program, his journey on and off the bike is changing the way the world views diabetes.”
- Phil Southerland’s Blog
- Browse Inside the book
- Chapters 1 and 2 of the book
- Team Type 1
- Author Videos
Community Resources
Find a local agency to partner with, a speaker, or other local resources here:
- Joslin Diabetes Center – find a Joslin affiliate near you
- Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation – search for chapters in your state
- juvenation – search for chapters and support groups in your states
- Canadian Diabetes Association – find a diabetes education center near you
Publicity Resources
Use this free material alongside your library’s November programming information – newsletter, blog, posters, or flyers – to promote both your library’s programs and American Diabetes Month.
- November 2011 Toolkit for American Diabetes Month from the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion – U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Includes:
- sample media and/or newsletter or listserv announcement (page 2)
- ready to go tweets to send from your library’s Twitter account (pages 3-4)
- e-cards (page 5)
- web badge
- Choose My Plate graphics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA):
- National Diabetes Education Program from the National Institutes of Health (NIH):
Fun Stuff
Add some interesting and helpful interactive links to a library program, your library website, Facebook page, or Twitter feed:
For Children:
- Arthur TV Episode: Desert Island Dish, featuring Corrinne, a girl with diabetes. An accompanying activity book Arthur Hooray for Health: Dealing with Diabetes is available as a free download and is in both English and Spanish from PBS.
- The Diabetes Rap!
- Fit! an interactive website from WebMD – Junior, Kids and Teens
- Lunch-O-Matic: a Cafeteria Challenge, online game from PBS
- Nick Jonas and Diabetes: Call Me Mr. Positive from Kids Health
- The Sam & Sandy Coloring Book, an online coloring book from Children with Diabetes
- How Insulin is Made and Works – video from KidsHealth
Interactive Tools:
- 2011 Software Applications article from Diabetes Forecast
- Diabetes Assessment Quizzes
- Diabetes Risk Test in from the American Diabetes Association
- Family Health History Quiz from the National Institutes of Health’s National Diabetes Education Program
- Diabetes Information Quizzes
- Diabetes Quiz from Discovery Fitness and Health
- Diabetic Eye Disease: How Much Do You Know? from the National Eye Institute – National Institutes of Health
- Myths and Facts About Type 2 Diabetes from WebMD
- The Sweet Truth About Diabetes: What Can You Eat if You Have Diabetes? from WebMD
- Test Your Diabetes Knowledge from American Heart Association
- MyFoodAdvisor from the American Diabetes Association set your goals and track your progress online
- Support Networks
- American Diabetes Association Community
- Family Support Network at Children with Diabetes
- juvenation – a type 1 diabetes community created by JDRF
- WebMD Diabetes Community
- Interactive Tutorials from Medline Plus
- Videos of family stories about type 1 diabetes from Disney Family
Do you have additional American Diabetes Month programming ideas that you want to share? Feel free to leave a comment.
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