Photos by Joshua McCoy/Daily News Melissa Hawks, a senior health educator for the Barren River District Health Department, speaks to Hispanic patients Aug. 2 about the dangers and treatment of diabetes at the Fairview Community Health Center. The workshop used translators to teach non-English-speaking Hispanics how to properly care for diabetes.

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Jose de La Hoz used to be scared of his diabetes, said Maria Robellar, a Spanish-language interpreter at Fairview Community Health Center.

But by the end of diabetes education classes last month for non-English speaking Hispanics at Fairview, he felt better about his disease.

He “raised his hand and wanted to say thank you to the teachers and (the Barren River District) Health Department,” which provided diabetes educators who taught the classes, Robellar said. “And he wanted to tell them, ‘Before these classes I was very afraid of having diabetes, but I'm not afraid anymore because I know now how to take care of my diabetes and myself.' ”

That's the kind of thing those who had set up the classes were hoping patients would learn.

“If you can provide a venue for patients to have diabetes education, they take more ownership (for their health care) and understand the doctor can only do so much, that it's up to the patient to do self-management,” said Chris Keyser, executive director of Fairview, where the classes were free and patients pay for their health care based on their ability.

The health department provided print materials and videos in Spanish for the classes.

Robellar translated what the English-speaking educators were saying.

Keyser now hopes eventually there will be other classes at Fairview to teach non-English-speakers how to deal with many chronic diseases.

“We are trying to improve the health of those with chronic health problems - diabetes, cardiovascular risks, asthma” and more, Keyser said. “We're starting with the diabetic population because diabetes has so many complications that can affect other body systems. Statistics show if you can improve the life of someone with diabetes with health care, you can keep them out of the hospital. That, in turn, saves health care costs, and the life of the individual with diabetes is better.”

The idea for the Spanish-language diabetes education class was born out of a comprehensive diabetes class Fairview and the health department held in English earlier this year.

At that class, several Hispanic people said they'd be interested in a Spanish-language class in which an interpreter could help them better understand what was being said, said Melissa Hawks, a senior health educator in the Kentucky Diabetes Prevention and Control program at the health department.

During the Spanish-language class, all aspects of diabetes were touched on, including complications, meal planning, medications and proper foot care.

“We had participants say they had learned changes they were going to make in their lifestyle to control their diabetes,” Hawks said. “And that was a wonderful thing.”

Milagros Rodriguez told Robellar “the best she learned was about her diet, the portions that she should eat, to look for the carbs on the label of the product that she's buying in the store, to look for the things she should avoid, that she should examine her feet every day and (to have) a balanced diet.”

Keyser said Fairview, which opened in the spring, is keeping a registry of its approximately 500 diabetic patients to see if people are keeping control of their illness.

Now, Fairview and the health department are already planning another diabetes education class for non-English-speaking Hispanics.

Genaro Sierra thought the last series of classes was perfect and said he was grateful to the health department, Fairview and Robellar for helping him learn a lot; he is now looking forward to future classes.

“I would like to have these classes more often,” Sierra said through Robellar. “I was thinking maybe they could make like a diabetic club with one meeting once a month for all the Hispanics, and maybe we can share experiences or concerns with each other, and with the teacher's help we can get the support we need. That way we could improve our quality of life.”

- For more information about Fairview Community Health Center, call 783-3573. For more information about the health department, call 781-8039.