UCSF Offers Diabetes Education Program to Bay Area Businesses

Peggy Huang

San Francisco Bay Area employers, who are concerned about the rising incidence of diabetes, can benefit from a new program offered by the UCSF Diabetes Teaching Center.

The teaching center has launched a program offering free, one-hour diabetes group instruction to Bay Area employees. These informational sessions are being led by Peggy Huang, RN, CDE, an accomplished diabetes nurse educator who co-founded the teaching center at UCSF in 1977. 

Although retired as program coordinator, Huang continues to serve as a program consultant and sees patients for individual counseling. She was part of the original team to implement the concepts of intensive diabetes self-management in Northern California in 1974. Huang has helped to establish other teaching programs and is a mentor to nurse educators in many other countries such as Taiwan, Singapore, and Japan as well as those in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Need for Diabetes Education

One of three families is affected by diabetes or at risk for contracting this disease. Providing education on diabetes prevention, warning signs, common myths, and general treatment options is vitally important to keep people healthy and happy. 

Since the need for diabetes education and medical care far exceeds the number of dedicated diabetes care providers, the Diabetes Teaching Center successfully launched its free, online educational website for the public at large, Diabetes Education Online. 

According to the latest statistics, there are more than 23 million individuals with diabetes in the US and 57 million with pre-diabetes are cared for by only 4,000 diabetes medical specialists. While very few individuals with diabetes can expect to see a diabetes specialist, everyone with Internet access can get educated about diabetes.

To sign up a company for this new diabetes education program, please contact Lorraine Stiehl.