This content was originally published on Premier Medical Laboratory Services' website. Camp Hendon was a recipient of COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test donations made possible by Premier Medical Laboratory Services. Large Donation of COVID-19 Tests a Tremendous Help to Diabetes Summer Camps Across the CountryOriginal Source: https://premedinc.com/large-donation-of-covid-19-tests-a-tremendous-help-to-diabetes-summer-camps-across-the-country/ Published July 22, 2021 by Kristina Loughrey Many children with diabetes look forward to summer camp each year to, not only spend time with friends, but with other children who can relate to similar day-to-day obstacles that living with diabetes can present. The Diabetes Education and Camping Association (DECA) unites the global diabetes camping community, providing leadership, education, and resources to make camps for those with diabetes more impactful. As most summer camps across the US resumed this year, diabetes camps were faced with the extraordinary obstacle of protecting children who are at higher risk for COVID-19 complications due to diabetes. To bring summer camps for children living with diabetes back this year and to help protect these children, one of the nation’s largest laboratories, Premier Medical Laboratory Services, donated thousands of COVID-19 tests to DECA camps in 19 states across the nation, enabling them to safely return to camp this year. “We know DECA and each of their camps do so much for the diabetes community – helping kids to learn how to manage the disease as well as support emotional wellbeing,” said Kevin Murdock, Founder and CEO of PMLS. “With diabetes being a global pandemic, it’s a large focus for Premier Medical Laboratory Services to provide top healthcare solutions for patients with diabetes. We are honored to help camps that improve the lives of children and adolescents with diabetes.” For some children, a diabetes camp is their first opportunity to meet a friend who also has diabetes, or their first time staying somewhere without their parents. It’s a great place for them to adopt a new hobby or learn skills that give them more self-confidence. Along with the feeling of independence and support, diabetes camps have been shown to provide children with an increase in diabetes self-care abilities and decreased diabetes-specific distress. (1) For caregivers, diabetes camps provide a medically sound environment where they can feel assured that their children are safe and their diabetes care needs are met. Terry Ackley, Executive Director of DECA added: “The safety of children with diabetes is the highest priority of diabetes camps. Covid-19 has presented significant challenges to the operation of diabetes camps this year. It has required that they carefully study their program delivery model and incorporate additional health and safety protocols following the newest guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control. A tool that is very important to safely serving children with diabetes at camp is Covid-19 testing. Premier Medical Laboratory Services approached the diabetes camping community to offer their much-needed support. Our community greatly appreciates their generous donation of a large quantity of rapid antigen tests to diabetes camps across the United States. Premier Medical Laboratory Services has been instrumental to the ability of diabetes camps to operate this year. Their support is helping children learn more about how to manage their diabetes, build resilience to living with this difficult health condition, develop cherished friendships and have lots of fun!” Aside from offering COVID-19 testing and many other medical diagnostics solutions, PMLS is continually searching for innovative diabetes prevention and maintenance applications. With some of the most advanced testing panels for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, PMLS also introduced to the US a first of its kind predictive genetic test for type 2 diabetes, which allows patients to know their risk of future onset of the disease determined by their individual genetic make-up. Along with this, Premier Medical Laboratory Services is currently working with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation on initiatives to bring soccer clinics to diabetes communities as part of their mission to improve patient lives both medically and through community outreach. PMLS is soon to announce more breakthrough solutions for diabetes care. Sources: 1) Weissberg, J., Vesco, A., Rychlik, K. (2019, February 21) Pediatric Diabetes URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pedi.12836
0 Comments
What made you decide to volunteer at Camp Hendon and how long have you been volunteering? I volunteered as part of my pharmacy residency program in 2017, but realized that I had found my people immediately! I have been volunteering since then. What is your role at camp? I started as an adult counselor, I am now medical staff and a part of the operations committee. Why do you come back year after year? What do you get from camp or how has it impacted your life? Coming to camp every year refuels my fire for my career and life. It is hard to explain the purpose, hope, and joy that being at camp gives me! The goodness of the staff, the energy and resilience of the campers—it truly is the best place on earth! What is your favorite activity at camp and why? The dance is my favorite because the kids think it’s hilarious when we know some of the dances too! What are some things you have learned or taken away from camp? Camp has taught me more about managing diabetes than a textbook ever could. First and foremost-they are kids above all else. Having diabetes is something they handle with such grace, it does not define who they are. Camp has taught me the importance of acceptance, inclusion, and taking care of each other! What do you do in your real life when you’re not giving your time to Camp Hendon? When I’m not “Red”, I am a pharmacist and diabetes educator. I love spending time outdoors with my friends and family. My favorite child is a cactus baby named Linda. Do you have any skills or talents that many may not know about you? I can still do back handsprings from way back when in my cheerleading days. I am also just a loud human being-not sure if that’s more of a skill or a talent. This content was originally published in East End Living's May 2021 edition. Written by Wendy Williams. For the past 56 years, Camp Hendon has been providing children with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) and their families a community of support. Each summer, children can escape to Camp Hendon, where everyone takes insulin, checks their blood sugar, and counts carbohydrates at meals and snacks. Type 1 Diabetes is a chronic, auto-immune disorder that is not the result of lifestyle or eating habits. Many kids at camp have never met another child with T1D, haven’t spent the night away from home since their diagnosis, and they struggle with feeling alone. Camp Hendon serves hundreds of children as they learn to champion their illness and grow among peers that are just like them.
Camp Hendon’s volunteer-led camping and outreach programs give children with T1D the opportunity to learn more about their diabetes and to grow more confident in their ability to handle the daily challenges they face while managing their disease. Camp Hendon specializes in providing a fun, recreational camping program for children with diabetes in a safe, medically-supervised (consisting of some of the region’s best pediatric endocrinologists, nurses, and certified diabetes educators) setting away from home. Diabetes Camp is a positive step toward independence for parents and children alike. Camp Hendon recognizes that diabetes is a family matter. It affects far more than just the child with the diagnosis. For one week each year, Camp Hendon provides parents and caregivers a desperately-needed reprieve from checking on their child throughout the night. One invaluable week free from the responsibilities of insulin ratios, pump changes, and blood sugar alarms. In recent years, the Camp Hendon program has expanded beyond providing two weeks of traditional summer camp experiences. Families and children have the opportunity to stay involved and connected to camp all year through weekend Family Retreats, Teen Retreats, caregiver support groups, and other social events. Camp Hendon has never turned a camper away for financial reasons; each summer, approximately 40% of children attend on scholarship. Every child has the opportunity to participate in these life-changing programs, regardless of their ability to pay. The goal of Camp Hendon is to support as many youth and families as possible. As a nonprofit organization, all funding comes from grants, donations, fundraising events, and camper registration fees. With no cure for diabetes on the immediate horizon, self-management and community have become critical for long-term diabetes care, mental health, and overall well-being. While many organizations are dedicated to finding a cure for Type 1 Diabetes, few offer support in the interim. Camp Hendon provides life-enhancing programs, without the promise of a cure, but with the guarantee of an experience that makes diabetes manageable until that cure is found. |
Archives
February 2022
|