 Hello and welcome to HealthFocus, a production of the Ministry of Health and Wellness. I am Fenel Neptune. Chronic diseases affects us in St. Lucia, and of course we have with us today the Principal Nurse and Officer from the Denver Hospital, Nurse Yolanda Alcindor, to speak with us on this topic. Welcome to the program. Thank you Fenel, and thanks for having me this morning on HealthFocus. Great. Can you tell us, before we get into the discussion as it relates to chronic disease management, perhaps you can tell us, what is chronic disease? What is a chronic disease? Well a chronic disease is a disease that affects an individual that do not have an immediate cure. So this person has to live with that condition for a very long time and needs to know how to manage the chronic disease to prevent complications. Okay, and what are some examples? Because people might wonder what are some different examples of a chronic disease? Well there are many chronic diseases, some of the more common chronic diseases that we would know of like diabetes, high blood pressure, you have kidney disease, sickle cell, arthritis, heart disease, so chronic disease is numerous. Okay, and for St. Lucia, what are the top four chronic diseases affecting a sensitive Lucia? Well in St. Lucia we have conditions like cardiovascular disease, persons who have suffered stroke, heart attack, cancers are very common, hypertension and diabetes. Okay, wonderful. And when it comes to chronic diseases, we know that it affects the daily life of persons. But what are the risk factors of those chronic diseases? Well the lifestyle related, most chronic diseases, the main risk factors are lifestyle related. So for example lack of exercise, poor diet, obesity, having a family history of the chronic disease also place an individual at high risk of developing that chronic disease. Okay, so it has a lot to do with your lifestyle? A lot to do with your lifestyle, for example stress management, smoking, the use of alcohol, all this increases our risk to chronic diseases. Okay, so for St. Lucia, given that we know the top four, we said it's cardiovascular, we said it's also cancer and diabetes and hypertension. But what are some of the ways in which people can actually prevent themselves from getting a chronic disease? Because besides before we also have kidney disease. What are some of the ways in which people can actually prevent themselves from getting that? Well one of the main ways is that persons practice healthy lifestyle, also early screening and prevention that persons access health care at the nearest wellness center to them and to go test for these chronic diseases. So that in case you are developing it, you can recognize it early and adopt a lifestyle to delay the diagnosis and also if you have been diagnosed to manage the chronic disease to prevent complications. Okay, and you mentioned healthy lifestyle, before we go in detail as it relates to screening, you mentioned healthy lifestyle, but explain to persons and people, well people, what do you mean by healthy lifestyle, if you could go in depth for that? Well in healthy lifestyle I mean being active, when it comes to physical activity, being active at least 30 minutes of physical activity for a day, your diet is having a diet high in vegetables, in fruits, drinking plenty of water, also stress management, you know good quality sleep, all of this is included in having and practicing healthy lifestyle. Wonderful, and can chronic diseases be cured? Well it can be managed where you can have live a normal lifestyle just like someone who do not have a chronic condition, but once you have been diagnosed, if you do not manage it, there is no cure for a chronic condition and that is why it poses a lot of problems to individual because it's a condition you have to live with on a daily basis and you have to practice these measures to prevent complication. So any activity that would revert to what has been proven to work will put that chronic condition out of control and will affect your body. Okay so it cannot be reversed? It can be reversed once you practice the healthy lifestyle and also taking your medication as prescribed by your health practitioner. So that means reversing meaning that you can have normal blood glucose if you are diagnosed with diabetes, you can have normal high blood pressure levels even if you have been diagnosed or you have been told by your doctor that you have high blood pressure because you are taking your medication, you are practicing healthy lifestyle, you are maintaining a diet low in salt and you are taking lots of vegetables and so on. So you can have normal levels, but once you stop these practices the blood sugar will increase, your high blood pressure will increase. Great, well we are due for a break, when we get back we will further in discussion as it relates to medication for people living with chronic diseases. We'll be back in a moment. Cut them loose. The anxieties, the worries, open up to possibilities. Accept the uncertainties and cut them loose. The bitterness, the hopelessness, plant a seed of hope in your mind. It will grow and flourish in time. Hold on a little longer. Life encourages you to grow. You have so much to offer. Look, tomorrow is waiting to say hello. Don't give up on yourself, instead reach out for help. Perhaps it's time to reach out to someone. Call the Health Helpline 203 toll free anytime to speak to a professional. A message from the Ministry of Health and Wellness. Welcome back. We will continue our discussion with Miss Yolanda Alcindor on chronic diseases management. Before we took the break we were talking about the cure for chronic diseases and also in terms of treatment. Can you speak on the role of medication when it comes to the management of chronic diseases? Well the use of medication is very important. Once someone has been diagnosed you've seen your healthcare provider and you provided with medication. It is important that this individual takes the medication as prescribed. That means you take the correct amount with frequency depending on how often a day and with chronic conditions you should not let your medication finish. So before when you have about a week's supply you return to your healthcare provider and normally you will be given an appointment when you're supposed to return your medication will be reviewed and another prescription will be given if necessary. The fact that the condition is chronic that means you need to continue taking your medication. So that leads to the next question. Why is it important for persons to manage the chronic conditions whether it is by healthy lifestyle or by medication? Why is it so important? Because for some persons they might say okay I'm taking the medication to them I'm not taking it tomorrow. Why is it so important for people to actually manage the chronic condition? Well it is very important to manage your chronic condition. One of the most important reasons is that to maintain a good quality of life where you're able to care for yourself another reason is that to prevent complication and there are lots of complications of chronic conditions and these complications affect the individual the family, the society so we want to have a healthy nation. So like I've said before even if you diagnose with a chronic condition once you are managing it you can continue living a quality lifestyle quality life. Okay and for people living with chronic conditions for a very long period of time it might be a bit difficult for them. Can you speak on the support that is needed from family, friends and also other persons in society to those persons with chronic conditions? Well we are aware that chronic conditions causes burnout, it causes depression and if persons are in a state of depression they are unable to care for themselves adequately and that is where the support of the family which is closest to that individual is so important because the family knows that individual they may be living with that individual and they can look out for signs of depression and they can seek medical attention contact the healthcare provider when these things are happening the healthcare providers are also there to provide support in the form of education assisting these individuals with developing skills that is necessary in managing their chronic condition for example somebody with high blood pressure can be taught how to measure their high blood pressure if you have diabetes and you have access to a glucometer you will be taught how to use that glucometer correctly also there is a lot of support with healthy lifestyle what you can do, what form of physical activity you can engage in and how persons can make correct decisions in managing their chronic condition and we are even looking at further as the support of the community and encourage persons to be active in support groups within the community to assist with the management of the chronic condition and we know that there is support from family we are asking for support from family, friends, the community but there is also the healthcare provider what role does the healthcare provider play in that management of chronic condition well the healthcare provider provides information on the chronic condition teach persons how to manage within our wellness center we have programs where persons can attend for example we have the chronic disease self-management program that individuals living with chronic conditions can enroll in and participate this program is a six weeks program we meet on a weekly basis and persons are taught a lot of different skills for example healthy eating how to manage their weight how to deal with difficult emotions the importance of communication communicating with the healthcare provider how to solve problems so all these are very practical things that the individual can do in the daily management of the chronic condition and before we close what message would you like to send out for Saint Lucian's for people living with chronic condition and also people who do not have a chronic condition what message would you like to leave with them well one of the most important message is that we change our lifestyle that we practice healthy lifestyle because we know that healthy lifestyle will prevent chronic conditions if you are at high risk it will delay your diagnosis of chronic condition and actually practicing a healthy lifestyle is the first form of management of a chronic condition some individuals are able to manage their chronic condition only by practicing healthy lifestyle and other persons may need medication so medication is always in connection or as an addition to practicing healthy lifestyle for the management of chronic condition and we can start by taking small steps so you look at where you are now what are your practices what are you doing and then you can address it by using the resources around you to make small improvements as necessary thank you very much it was definitely a pleasure having you here with us today and providing us with such valuable information on chronic disease management thank you so much thank you for having me for you wonderful well that's how we come to the end of Health Focus on behalf of the entire production team I am Fenel Neptune thanks for watching until next time