Diabetes educator receives state honor

 Leslie Coates, a certified diabetes educator at Kalispell Regional Medical Center, is the Montana Dietetic Association’s new Dietitian of the Year, according to the hospital’s website.

At the association’s annual meeting June 1-3, Coates was honored for the instrumental role she plays in the hospital’s Diabetes Care and Prevention Center efforts to combat diabetes and participate in national research efforts.

Coates serves as the lead presenter for the local Lifestyle Balance Program, working alongside other registered dietitians and registered nurses who are certified diabetes educators.

Lifestyle Balance is designed to help people delay or prevent the onset of Type 2 diabetes by losing weight and making lifestyle changes over the course of 10 months.

Coates also wrote a successful grant application from the state to pay for research aspects of the program.

The Montana Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes Prevention Project, an arm of the Montana Department of Health and Human Services, has awarded $25,000 annually for the next seven years. That will cover 40 participants a year.

The grant allows local participants to join Lifestyle Balance at a minimal cost while the diabetes center collects and submits patient data to the Montana project that awarded the grant.

It’s a part of the Diabetes Prevention Program, a national clinical trial. The trial showed a 58 percent reduction in diabetes cases as well as improvements in blood pressure, LDL and HDL cholesterol levels. Montana’s participants have averaged a 7 percent weight loss upon completion of the program.

Twelve sites are part of this research project in Montana, the only state that has implemented it as a successful community model.

Lifestyle Balance Program information is available by calling 751-5454.