You asked...we listened! Through networking, stakeholder meetings, and inventories of service with diabetes educators, physicians and others, we heard that we needed a regional web-site to help both patients and health care providers navigate the system.
This website was developed for individuals and families living with diabetes and health care providers in the Waterloo-Wellington region, to help you find information and services available in your community to support you in living with or working with diabetes.
The site was developed by the Waterloo-Wellington Diabetes Regional Coordination Centre (RCC), hosted by Langs in Cambridge. The RCC was funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) through the Ontario Diabetes Strategy from June 2010 to Feb 2013. The role of the RCC was to organize and coordinate diabetes care in the region.
The logo contains the “blue ring” which is the international symbol for diabetes. The circle symbolizes unity, and was developed for the campaign for a United Nations Resolution on diabetes in 2006, which resulted in declaring November 14th “World Diabetes Day”. The blue border of the circle reflects the colour of the sky and the flag of the United Nations.
The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) holds all rights to the blue circle for diabetes. Permission was received in 2011 to incorporate the symbol into our logo to continue to promote awareness of diabetes.
There are many publicly funded Diabetes Education Programs in Waterloo Wellington Region, as well as many Family Health Teams and Pharmacists now offering Diabetes Education. A centralized intake program was developed to facilitate the referral process. Once you send a referral to Central Intake©, it will be triaged by a Certified Diabetes Educator, and directed to the appropriate Diabetes Education Program for your patient. You will receive a notice back informing you of the program your patient was sent to, as well as you will receive another notice of the appointment date. The Central Intake© monitors wait times of all the programs, to ensure they are meeting the Standards for Access to Diabetes Education.
Individuals may now self-refer themselves to Diabetes Education. If the person consents and identifies you as the Health Care Provider, you will receive notice of a self-referred education appointment.
For a referral form, click here.
If you would like to eRefer, click here
If you would like a referral form for your EMR, please contact [email protected]
Diabetes education consists of group classes and individual sessions with a diabetes team. Follow-up sessions are encouraged until the individual is comfortable self-managing their diabetes. It is recommended that an individual with diabetes be re-referred at any time for further education and support on diabetes management.
A diabetes team consists of a registered dietitian and diabetes nurse educator, who are often Certified Diabetes Educators (CDEs). The team may also include others such as a social worker, chiropodist, kinesiologist, and diabetes specialist.