One important aspect of Disease Management is its goal of preventing secondary health issues from developing. As an example, people with diabetes are at risk of developing heart, nerve, or eye problems.
These additional problems are called co-morbidities meaning in that, they develop in addition to, and sometimes, as a result of the original problem. Therefore, one goal of Health management is to prevent the extra problem from occurring.
A Diabetes Management program that reduced health care use and expenditures conducted recently in Hamilton measured the satisfaction of both patients and physicians with the program. Some 45 percent of patients “strongly agreed” that they would recommend the program to others needing similar care. In late 2008, the Government of Ontario announced the implementation of a Diabetes Strategy as the first phase of providing a comprehensive CDPM strategy for the province and making Diabetes Management as one of the important programs under Disease management.
Diabetes management involves:
- Relief from diabetic symptoms and improvement in the quality of life.
- Prevention of acute complications.
- Prevention of microvascular complications like retinopathy, neuropathy, and nephropathy.
- Prevention of macro-vascular complications like cardiovascular, cerebro-vascular, and peripheral vascular disease.
- Prevention of infections.
Type 2 diabetes is more common in adults but with the current lifestyles in most of the Canadian households, an increase in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes is also noted. Although type 1 diabetes occurs more commonly in persons below 25 years, it can also develop at any age.
Therefore, the complete treatment of people with diabetes requires advocating a healthy lifestyle with a focus on increased physical activity and properly balanced diet to attain and maintain desirable body weight. Also, meticulous attention is to be given to achieve normoglycemia, control of hypertension, and management of dyslipidemia.
For Westmount Medical Pharmacy, it means empowering people with diabetes with knowledge and providing tools crucial for making them active partners in the Diabetes management team. Our services include:
- In-depth information about diabetes, its complications, and treatment
- Appropriate self-care skills
- Appropriate resources for self-care
- A positive attitude
- Self-monitoring skills
Westmount Medical Pharmacy takes its commitment to help diabetic patients to the next level. As our valued customer, you now enjoy free counseling by a qualified diabetes educator and dietician for personalized counseling on managing and controlling diabetes. This applies even to individuals who may be in pre-diabetic stages and not witnessed the onset of diabetes as yet.
We offer three stages of prevention program at our pharmacy that include:
Primary prevention: targets people by early diagnosis through screening programs before the onset of the disease. All people at risk are regularly screened and encouraged at our center to pursue a healthy lifestyle, including a healthy diet, adequate exercise, and weight control.
Secondary prevention: is to prevent the onset of complications for those who are already diagnosed with diabetes. This can be achieved by meticulous control of diabetes under our guidance with the help of diet, physical activity, prescribed drugs, and lifestyle modification process.
Tertiary prevention: aims at limiting physical disability and rehabilitation measures in those who have already developed diabetic complications and to prevent them from going into end-stage complications of diabetes.
