Diabetes Program

Diabetes occurs when the body does not produce enough insulin, or when the insulin produced by the body is not used well. It can lead to a reduced quality of life and complications such as kidney disease, heart disease, stroke, vision loss, nerve damage and amputation. It is more common in males and in older people. Ontario had an incidence of the disease of 8.0% of the population in 2017 and this has grown by 40% in the past ten years.

Type 1 diabetes is largely an inherited autoimmune disease that appears in children. It cannot be prevented and leaves individuals dependent on external insulin for life. Type 2 diabetes is also inherited but is activated by lifestyle factors such as an unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity, and being overweight. It typically occurs in adults over 40 years of age. Adults in “food insecure” households are TWICE as likely to suffer from Type 2 diabetes. The risk of developing Type 2 diabetes can  be reduced or delayed by making healthy lifestyle choices.

It can be daunting to tackle something like diabetes on your own. Addressing it with a group of peers and professional advice is much more likely to lead to success in controlling or even preventing diabetes.

The MIND Program’s meals are designed to provide nutritious food at a low cost, and which appeal to tenants’ tastes.  For those with diabetes or pre-diabetes, modifications to diet are required, especially reducing carbohydrates, sugar, pop, and highly processed foods like white bread, rice, and potato chips. In September 2019 M.I.N.D. initiated a diabetes program which includes:

1.       Diabetes Education – three workshops were held at 682 Warden Ave. in September 2019 run by nurses and other staff from South Riverdale Community Health Centre (CHC). Over the month, 30 tenants attended one or more of the workshops offered. Topics covered included healthy eating and meal planning, reading food labels, monitoring blood glucose levels, medications and insulin, and physical activity. Participants were enthusiastic and had lots of questions answered.

 2.       Diabetes Counselling – following the workshops, South Riverdale Community Health Centre began to offer personal, one-on-one counselling onsite at 682 Warden Ave. to interested tenants to help them follow up and implement what they had learned in the workshops. South Riverdale CHC is provided two nurses and a social worker every week to facilitate this program.

 3. Diabetic Meals – simultaneously the meal program altered the current low-cost lunch program at 682 Warden Ave. These special lunches were tailored to the needs of diabetics and pre-diabetics. The typical diabetes lunch meal is a healthy salad/vegetable, with chicken or beef, plus a low starch / low sugar carbohydrate. This was offered Monday to Thursday and from 20-30 tenants participate every day. Despite the high cost of fresh vegetables and proteins, we were able to keep the cost to $1.50 per lunch.

 4. Diabetic Cooking – the next phase was to offer cooking classes for those with, or at risk of developing, diabetes. Classes would focus on cooking skills and creating healthy meals at low cost. These classes were planned for early in 2020 with the assistance of staff from South Riverdale CHC.

With the arrival of Covid-19 in March 2020 all of this in-person programming had to stop. Since then, agencies like South Riverdale CHC have had to re-orient their programming in line with current funding and health priorities. To date they have not been able to re-start this on-site diabetes program but the MIND Program continues to seek ways to meet our clients’ needs.