New & Noteworthy

Consumer Advocate Spotlight: Helen Dumski

President and CEO, Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland

With a professional and personal interest in diabetes, Helen Dumski has been a steadfast advocate for the diabetes community for the last 25 years. Helen became active as a consumer advocate when diabetes touched her life in a very personal way. Her husband is a Type 1 diabetic and she also lost her mother to cardiac complications as a result of diabetes. Having experienced first hand the impact of diabetes on her own family, Helen has dedicated her professional life to helping others in her community who are affected by the disease. She is a registered, licensed dietitian and the President and CEO of the Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland (DAGC).

Each year in Ohio 18,000 people die from diabetes complications and more than 250,000 Ohioans are hospitalized because of the disease. In order to address this problem, Helen serves on the Consumer Engagement Workgroup at Better Health Greater Cleveland the organization that leads the Aligning Forces for Quality work in Cleveland. Helen shares: “The Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland is pleased to have a voice in how the Better Health Greater Cleveland diabetes report cards on doctor’s practices are presented to the community.”

Together, Helen and Better Health Greater Cleveland are working to curb the effects of diabetes in Ohio by tackling a number of important initiatives, including:

• Providing diabetes self-management classes at local clinics where clients would otherwise not have access to diabetes education and advocates; and
• Ensuring the diabetes education and promotional materials in the community are accessible to the widest range of people by using current health literacy standards.

A big thank you to Helen and Better Health Greater Cleveland for the work they are doing on behalf of diabetes in Ohio! Learn more about Better Health of Greater Cleveland by visiting www.betterhealthcleveland.org and the work of the Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland by visiting www.dagc.org.