Caddo Nation Special Diabetes Program FY2023 - Diabetes can be a strenuous disease that can lead to heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, and problems within other organs such as the feet and eyes. The Caddo Nation Special Diabetes Program is aiming to help the community in the best way by implementing various programs to assist clients in living longer healthier lives. Doing so promotes better blood sugars, lower A1C numbers and the importance of maintaining a healthy body. Once a month the Caddo Nation Special Diabetes Program partners with Dr. William Smith, DPM, and holds a podiatry clinic. The purpose of the clinic is to help ensure proper healthy foot care within diabetics and pre-diabetics. Clients have access to educational information, along with a foot examination, and also have an opportunity to receive wellness shoes once annually. The Program has various other resources that assist clients with medical equipment such as meters, lancets, eyeglasses, dentures, medical prescriptions, diabetic logbooks, and informational packets. With resources available The Caddo Nation Special Diabetes Program hopes to promote routine sugar checks, that will help clients manage and understand the triggers of high or low sugars with the help of a healthy meal plan. In order to promote a healthy active lifestyle, the program offers low impact exercise equipment, water aerobics, fun buddy walks, and a hundred mile walk club. Exercising as a diabetic is beneficial in many ways, like improving blood sugar levels and it can help manage weight. Caddo Nation Special Diabetes Program employees attend health fairs along with various trainings to help ensure they are equipped with the knowledge and the necessary training to know what it means to be diabetic and how to notice the signs of too high or too low blood sugars. Overall the Caddo Nation Special Diabetes Program thrives to meet the needs of diabetics and pre-diabetics within the Native American community.