In recognition of National Diabetes Awareness Month, President of ACP Community Services, Dr. Janice Emanuel Mc Clean, whose organization has been at the vanguard to prevent or delay Type 2 Diabetes and helping individuals manage diabetes in New York City since 2015, received the ACES 2024 grant from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to work in underserved communities in Brooklyn.
“This year, we have extended our services in Diabetes prevention and management to the boroughs of Queens and the Bronx. We have also conducted classes in Long Island. This year, over one hundred individuals completed classes,” said Dr. Emanuel.
On May 13, 2024, a group of 25 individuals from the Flatbush SDA Church completed the Diabetes Self-Management Class. On Oct. 19, 12 from the New Jerusalem SDA Church also completed the class. Then, on Oct. 22, at Sundance Adult Social Day Center at 486 Livonia, 30 individuals graduated from Diabetes Prevention and Self-Management.
Another graduation is scheduled for this month. The primary instructor for these classes was Dr. Janice Emanuel McLean.
APC Community Services has received a Full Plus Recognition status with the Centers for Disease Control for its work in both Diabetes Prevention and Management.
She said that according to the American Diabetes Association, Diabetes is an epidemic in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that more than 37 million Americans have diabetes and face its devastating consequences.
“What is true nationwide is also true in New York. New York’s diabetes epidemic: Approximately 1,581,238 people in New York, or 10.1% of the adult population, have diagnosed diabetes. An additional 456,000 people in New York have diabetes but do not know it, increasing their health risk.
She noted that there are 5,228,000 people in New York, 33.5% of the adult population, who have prediabetes with blood glucose levels that are higher than usual but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Every year, an estimated 116,095 people in New York are diagnosed with diabetes. This is according to the American Diabetes Association, said Dr. Emanuel.