7 Healthcast: MGH diabetes class

One local program is helping Latino men and women manage their diabetes by offering special support groups just for them.

Adjusting to life with diabetes can be tough. From monitoring blood sugar to managing medications, it's a lot to get used to, and it's especially hard for those who don't speak English as their first language.

Eli Samuel Sanchez, R.N., Mass General's Chelsea Health Center
"Education is very important especially for the Latino population. They are the fastest growing population in the U.S., so we need to actually tackle that population, get them to know about their diseases, especially diabetes."

Many of these patients struggled with the language barrier until they found the Spanish-speaking diabetes support group at Mass General's Chelsea Health Center.

Registered nurse Eli Samuel Sanchez leads the support group once a week for four weeks at a time.

During the sessions, patients learn to manage their diabetes, and help each other cope with the disease.

Eli Samuel Sanchez, R.N., Mass General's Chelsea Health Center
"We get them engaged, we get them to talk about what's been going on once they found out they have diabetes and what are they doing to deal with the diabetes."

The class also emphasizes eating a healthy diet, exercising, and most of all- having fun.

Eli Samuel Sanchez, R.N.,Mass General's Chelsea Health Center
"We use dance as a form of, get them to move, get them up and moving, and make it fun, diabetes should be fun, you should be able to control your diabetes, not let your diabetes control you."

And from the look of things, this Spanish-speaking group has everything under control!

Mass General also offers English-speaking diabetes support groups. If you'd like to learn more about this and other programs offered at Mass General, come to the free Health and Fitness Expo at the Hynes Convention center on June 21st and 22nd.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)