Changes in lifestyle can help in preventing the onset of diabetes and other chronic diseases. To help prediabetic island residents make those changes, faculty and students at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy (DKICP) are offering a free year-long diabetes prevention program for a second year. Anyone interested can go online and complete a short questionnaire to determine eligibility. Applications will be accepted through April 10, 2023, and space is limited.
The program will be facilitated by two practicing pharmacists and DKICP assistant professors, Dr. Aryn Meguro and Dr. Bryce Fukunaga. Both are also lifestyle coaches who are certified through the American Association of Diabetes Educators. The program will also include student pharmacists operating the Pacific Island Mobile Health Screening Clinic.
Past participants have said that being part of a cohort and feeling accountable to and supportive of them was a major benefit of this program, explained Meguro.
“Participants said that the connections they formed with each other throughout the year were very valuable, along with the lifestyle coaching and informational support.”
Last year’s cohort consisted of 20 participants who lost a total of 278 pounds, she added.
“They also ended the program with an overall better understanding of their health, how to make lifestyle improvements, and how to create plans to assure they continue in those healthy habits.”
The yearlong program includes several in-person meetings each month on the UH Hilo campus, where participants will receive regular health monitoring and personal counseling to assist in making lifestyle changes, achieving weight loss and learning to maintain healthier habits. The first required informational session is April 10, 2023 from 5-6 pm at DKICP in Hale Kihoʻihoʻi, Lecture Hall B.
Go online at https://forms.gle/ghXLt5tJgsrppttp9 to check on eligibility or email Meguro at arynm@hawaii.edu.