Did you know there is a link between diabetes and high blood pressure?

• Adults with diabetes are two to four times more likely to have hypertension.
• Men with diabetes are three times more likely to have high blood pressure.

There is good news. Medicare can help you screen for, prevent or delay, treat and manage these conditions. NCOA's campaign, Connect the Dots: Diabetes and Your Heart - How Medicare Helps, is a joint program with Medicare focused on diabetes screening, prevention, management, and wellness. To learn more, see these resources:

• Connect the Dots PowerPoint presentation
  Information on diabetes and high blood pressure:
  • Symptoms.
  • Risks.
  • Diagnosis.
  • Treatment.
  • Screening through Medicare.
     
• Connect the Dots Checklist
  Review this checklist of diabetes and high blood pressure risk factors and symptoms. Then print it and take it to your doctor.
   
• My Medicare Preventive Benefits Checklist
  This checklist helps you talk with your doctor and find out what preventive services are best for you. 
   
• Diabetes and Your Heart - How Medicare Helps (pdf file)
  Learn what you can do to prevent, delay or manage diabetes and hypertension.
   
• Connect the Dots Final Report (pdf file)
  Shares the results of this social marketing campaign.

Connect the Dots offers a "Train the Trainer" model for senior center directors and other senior-serving organizations and staff, offering training, toolkits and materials on the relationship of hypertension and diabetes – and how Medicare can help.  Three regional meetings – Washington DC, South and West – will be held starting mid-2009.

For senior centers or community groups that wish to hold an educational event, Connect the Dots "Presentation In A Box" is available at no cost.   The kit includes a CD of a PowerPoint presentation, a diabetes/hypertension checklist handout, a poster and flyers for you to conduct an educational seminar at your center.  If you would like to order this kit, please email Christine Harding or call 202-479-6605.

This information is part of NCOA's campaign, Connect the Dots: Diabetes and Your Heart - How Medicare Helps. This awareness campaign helps seniors, caregivers, and the professionals who care for them understand the risk factors for--and links between--diabetes and high blood pressure. See why NCOA launched this campaign.

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Connect the Dots:  Diabetes and Your Heart – How Medicare Helps is supported by an educational grant from Novartis Pharmaceuticals.

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In partnership with government agencies, private companies, and community organizations, NCOA provides these campaigns to seniors and caregivers nationwide.

NCOA seeks collaborative relationships with corporate, association, and government partners who seek to build consumer awareness and affect health outcomes for America's seniors. For more information about partnering with NCOA, contact the Communications Division at 202-479-1200 or e-mail us.