According to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, the Kentucky Diabetes Report, the prevalence of diabetes has more than tripled since 1995.  Diabetes is a common, serious and costly disease for Kentuckians.  However diabetes is controllable if the disease is diagnosed early and managed well by a health care team and the individual.  According to Kentucky Health Facts 18% of Garrard County adults have been diagnosed with diabetes. Without a Diabetes Educator for several years located in Garrard County, there have been very few diabetes education programs available locally.  
The Garrard County Family and Consumer Sciences Education agent along with a Registered Nurse from the Garrard County Health Department planned and implemented Diabetes Self Management Classes at the Garrard County Extension Office held over 3 sessions at 3 hours each. The series focused on the basics of Diabetes management. According to surveys completed at the end of the sessions after the lessons:
:
75% understand to take medicines as doctor orders

100% learned to have eye exam every year

25% understood to check feet daily

50% agreed they would change eating habits that would keep blood sugar levels in control

75% learned what to do if blood sugar level is too high

100% learned sources for healthy recipes

100% indicated more knowledge about reading food labels as related to their diabetes

Future managing diabetes programs are being discussed.