Workshop highlights “foot notes” for diabetics
It is a life threatening disease which has impaired the lives of thousands of Belizeans. But while diabetes can be controlled to the point where a person can lead a normal life, there are some very specific disciplines which must be strictly adhered to. One of them is proper foot care. News 5’s Patrick Jones has more.
Patrick Jones, Reporting
For the past week social workers and medical technicians from all over the country gathered in Belize City to learn the basics of foot care. According to President of the Belize Diabetes Association, Beth McBride, too many diabetics are losing their feet due to poor care.
Beth McBride, President Belize Diabetes Association
“The feet are very important. Circulation is affected by years of poorly managed diabetes. Even people who manage their diabetes quite well over the years, the circulation deteriorates, the blood doesn’t flow as well to the extremities, so taking care of the feet is very important…We’ve been training the nurses and health educators on how to take care of people’s feet. Because there are no foot care specialists in Belize so I invited a friend, Mr. Owen Bernard from Jamaica, from the Diabetes Association there to come over and help us by training our nurses and educators as health care assistants.”
McBride says in Belize, the number of amputations due to the poor management of diabetes is second only to accident traumas.
Owen Bernard, Executive Dir., Diabetes Assn. of Jamaica
“When you think about it, your foot, twenty-six bones; that one foot is supported by sixty muscles. We take about seventeen thousand steps a day, yet we pay scant regard to our feet until something go wrong.”
The idea is to nip problems in the bud by educating the public on proper foot care, thereby ensuring that patients step gracefully into old age.
Shelmadine Cacho is one of fourteen people who underwent the training.
Shelmadine Cacho, Social Worker, Mercy Clinic
“Well basically we are learning how to care for the foot, different situations and how to really deal with them. I’ve learned to cut nails, to clean them and how to detect certain situations and how to I guess in a way control situations that can be potentially harmful to the patient.”
According to Owen Bernard of the Diabetes Association of Jamaica, foot care is one of the crucial components of diabetes control.
Owen Bernard
“However, it’s an area that is neglected because there is not enough podiatrists in the Caribbean. Now what we have done is this, about four years ago we developed a national diabetes education program in Jamaica called the Lay Diabetes Facilitator Programme. What is it all about? Using simple, language and symbols that the lay person can understand.”
But apart from exposing foot care givers to the vital training, Bernard says there is also a need to have the right tools on hand to do a decent job. And while specific populations like the elderly are considered high-risk, Bernard says proper foot care should be a priority for all ages.
Owen Bernard
“It is not nice to loose a foot. It is not nice to loose a limb. If you are diabetic, you need to pay special attention to your feet. Why? Because how does diabetes affect the limb, the circulation to the limb is likely to become reduced. When that happens, it affects the nerve endings, so your ability to feel and fight infections becomes reduced, hence the importance of foot care.”
Patrick Jones, for News 5.
A free clinic for the general public will be held at the Lake Independence Community Centre on Mahogany Street on Saturday from nine a.m. to noon.
