Tech & Tools

New Videos, Website Offer Resources for People Affected by Diabetes

New videos to help people make lifestyle changes and cope with the demands of diabetes have been announced by the Health and Human Services' National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP). The series of 3- to 5-minute videos, which can be found at YourDiabetesInfo.org, address topics such as setting goals to improve health, living with diabetes, and finding the support you need as well as segments on diabetes prevention and physical activity.

The video series is the latest addition to NDEP's offerings in lifestyle change. The videos are being released to coincide with the redesign of NDEP's online library of behavior change resources, Diabetes HealthSense, which provides users with a searchable database of research, tools, and programs to address the wide array of psychosocial and lifestyle-change challenges associated with diabetes self-management. Included resources have been reviewed by a team of independent experts on psychosocial issues with specific expertise in the science of behavior change.

Visitors to the Diabetes HealthSense site can view videos featuring expert professionals who are NDEP volunteers as well as people living with diabetes or working to prevent type 2 diabetes. Initial videos (with more to follow) include the following:

  • setting goals to improve your health;
  • managing type 2 diabetes;
  • living with type 2 diabetes: finding the support you need;
  • preventing type 2 diabetes;
  • maintaining a healthy weight; and
  • practical tips and action steps: physical activity.

Additionally, visitors can choose what they'd like help with, such as how to cope with stress and emotions, eat healthfully, or be active. They can also utilize tracking tools for calories or physical activity or online programs to help them manage their weight or stop smoking.

Diabetes HealthSense includes links to tools and programs to help people set goals and find ways to deal with the stress and emotions that can prevent a person from achieving their goals, whether they have diabetes or are at risk of the disease.

— Source: National Institutes of Health