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As Diabetes Cases Rise, Employees Get Free Help

Employee wellness program provides counseling for those at risk

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James Goodrich uses an elliptical machine at home, where he exercises regularly to keep his health - and the threat of diabetes - in check. Goodrich has received wellness tips from staff at LIVE FOR LIFE, which provide a variety of resources to keep employees healthy. Photo courtesy of James Goodrich.

In late 2007, James Goodrich teetered on the edge of diabetes. 

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His general practitioner told him he was glucose intolerant, which encouraged Goodrich to drop over 40 pounds by adjusting his diet. He minimized sugar intake and ramped up exercise to up to an hour four or more days a week by walking, using an elliptical machine and weight training.

Being in a pre-diabetic state motivated Goodrich because he wants to avoid the reality of tracking blood sugar and taking insulin for the metabolic disease. 

“You can get used to dealing with Type 2 diabetes, but it certainly impacts your lifestyle when you have to monitor levels and eat a restricted diet,” said Goodrich, 55, a senior IT analyst at the Duke Clinical Research Institute. “The spectrum of long term health risks is big if I don’t pay attention.”

Along with monitoring his intake of non-complex carbohydrates from breads and sweets and exercising regularly at home, Goodrich fends off diabetes with help from Pathways to Change, a year-long health management program that pairs participants with coaches who guide them along a path to wellness. It’s offered for free through LIVE FOR LIFE, Duke’s employee wellness program. 

But many North Carolinians aren’t as lucky to get this kind of help. According to a 2014 study from Harvard University, the latest of its kind, diabetes rates in the Tar Heel State have nearly doubled in the last 20 years. The disease stands as the seventh-leading cause of death in the state and has a higher death rate in North Carolina than the national average. Globally, the number of people with diabetes has risen from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014, according to the World Health Organization.

In 2014, the most recent year of data available from Duke Human Resources, Duke paid $9.1 million to help cover faculty, staff and their dependents for diabetes-related medical coverage. Two of the top-five prescription drugs from that year were to maintain blood sugar levels.

“Diabetes increases the risk of many serious health problems, such as skin infections, glaucoma, and neuropathic damage” said Esther Granville, nutrition program manager for LIVE FOR LIFE. “The good news is that lifestyle changes that include regular exercise and proper nutrition can prevent or delay the progression of the disease.”

LIVE FOR LIFE provides a variety of free resources for pre-diabetic employees and family members to maintain a healthy lifestyle, from one-on-one nutrition and fitness consultations to health assessments and discounted gym memberships. Health coaching programs like Pathways to Change offer direct guidance to employees working to achieve goals and stay healthy.

“It means a lot to know that it doesn’t cost me a thing and I get help provided here at work to fit into my day,” Goodrich said of his consultations with LIVE FOR LIFE staff.

With guidance, Goodrich works out three or four times a week on an elliptical machine at home and said he’s disciplined to take stairs instead of elevators. Small changes like that will help him reach an ideal weight around 165 pounds as he continues to drop from his current weight of 170. 

With his diet in check – avoiding glucose and carbohydrate-rich foods – Goodrich is making sure he’ll never hear an official diagnosis of diabetes.

“I’ve been very impressed by how LIVE FOR LIFE kept me focused on what I needed to achieve,” Goodrich said. “I have an ongoing health risk, but there’s a lot I can do to help myself, too.”