Top diabetes educator

By Patty Mintz

Bev Harris, a registered dietician and certified diabetes educator who works at Valley Regional Hospital’s Diabetes Education Centre, has been named the 2007 Diabetes Educator of the Year. She is the first Nova Scotian to receive the award.

Harris was honoured in Vancouver, B.C. at the opening ceremonies on Oct. 25 of the 11th Annual Canadian Diabetes Association and Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism Professional Conference, which was attended by more than 2,500 diabetes clinicians, researchers and educators from across Canada and around the world.

Harris says she talked about her admiration for people with the disease in her acceptance speech. “I said that people have to live with diabetes every day and work so hard to look after it. They’re an inspiration that they are able to do that.”

Donna Lillie, senior vice president, research and professional education for the CDA, said the award “recognizes and rewards diabetes educators who have demonstrated outstanding commitment and achievement to improving the health of individuals and communities, despite many challenges.”

Harris, 47, who has been involved in diabetes education since 1991, is recognized for her work with diabetes self-management, education and follow-up care for adults and children with diabetes, their families and caregivers. She coordinates the diabetes education program with other members of the DEC team, provides diabetes education to Valley Regional Hospital staff and coordinates research projects and studies conducted by the centre. “It’s the big one,” Harris jokes about the award during an interview at her office last week.

In fact, Harris is supremely modest about it all and says the “culprits” behind the scenes are her co-workers, including certified diabetes nurse educator Janice Knapp, who nominated Harris. “For starters, she’s involved locally, provincially and nationally in a number of committees,” says Knapp. “She’s the type of person who says ‘let’s do it’ then starts it and follows it through to the end, and God bless her because we’re all so busy and yet she keeps her cool. We’re very proud of her.”

Letters from medical staff, patients and the Diabetes Care Program of Nova Scotia supported the nomination.

Knapp says one project in particular set Harris apart. “Her crowning glory is the exercise program we just started. Bev is totally the reason it’s there.”

Harris helped secure a $30,000 grant from industry for exercise classes that are held within the existing cardiac rehab program.

She says awards aside, the annual conference is an opportunity to share knowledge, ideas and experiences in diabetes. “It was pretty jam-packed with sessions because it’s our major education event of the year.”

Harris was impressed with the keynote address presented by the Centre for Disease Control based in Atlanta on “Changing Diabetes – a World-Wide Perspective,” and with a session on pregnancy and diabetes. She came away with a reinforced knowledge that, “It’s very important to guide our patients to target levels for glucose, blood pressure and lipid levels to prevent the devastating complications of diabetes.”

A number of sessions examined prevention. “Can we prevent of delay Type 2 diabetes?” ponders Harris. “And how can you spend the limited health care dollar. Should it be spent on prevention or treatment? Right now we spend a lot on treating complications, but is there some way we can shift that to prevention?”

Harris attended the conference with colleagues and Valley Regional’s Diabetes Centre medical director Dr. Lynn Harrigan, who made a presentation on behalf of the centre on a research project involving hypertension intervention.

There’s no doubt that diabetes educators around the world face huge challenges.

Consider that over the last two decades, the number of people suffering from diabetes has increased almost seven-fold and that diabetes advocacy groups have joined together in a global initiative called “Unite for Diabetes” which resulted in the U.N. declaring Nov. 14, 2007 “World Diabetes Day”.

Back on the job, Harris is hard at it, but willing to take time to explain her passion for her work. “Most of the people who come to our diabetes centre are looking for guidance and assistance (but) I learn something new from them everyday.”

The mother of four says she moved from Alberta to Nova Scotia in Grade 9. She attended Horton High and Acadia University and now lives in New Minas with her husband Dave, a retired teacher.

How she came to work in the medical field is not easy to explain, she says. “In life, things just sort of happen,” she smiles.

That could explain how she came to be a trombonist with the Kings Community Concert Band and the Big Valley Swing Orchestra, and a member of the St. Joseph’s church choir.

She doesn’t like the limelight and that could be why she enjoys the choir loft and the back of the band to the spotlight at prestigious conferences.