Radio PSAs: Preventing Diabetes in Eastern Ky.

We created these 60-second testimonials as radio PSAs to highlight different aspects of prediabetes & preventing type 2 diabetes in Eastern Kentucky, and to lift up the work of the Diabetes Prevention Program. If you are a radio station in the area, we’d love it if you’d like to air them!

Listen to each below, or click here to download a .zip file of all 7 PSAs.

1. LaDonna Arms, Johnson Co.
LaDonna (at left) was a recent participant in the DPP at the Johnson Co. Health Dept. She says, “I was a caretaker, so I didn’t get out a lot… this has been life-changing for me.”

2. Doris Newton & Masha Ott, Breathitt Co.
Doris & Masha were recent participants in the DPP at Juniper Health. They say, “Diabetes is something you can turn around. Nip it in the bud, you can change it!” “…And a program like this can help you make those changes.”

3. Loran Sturgill, Letcher Co.
Loran says he had no idea he was in the prediabetes/diabetes range until getting an A1C test done– all he knew was he was tired all the time. But after finding out, and then making huge changes around walking & healthy eating, he says, “I feel like a new person!”

4. Mary Beth Castle, Johnson Co.
Mary Beth (right) is a lifestyle coach at the Johnson Co. Health Dept.’s DPP program. She herself was diagnosed with prediabetes a few years ago, & then made large-scale lifestyle changes to improve her health. She says, “to maybe stop this cycle of going from prediabetes to type 2 diabetes… it has to start somewhere. Why can it not start with me?”

5. Taylor Pratt, Letcher Co.
Taylor says that in her last year of high school, she didn’t have the healthiest eating habits, and she was constantly fatigued. But she says she had no idea she was near the prediabetes range until getting an A1C test. She says, “It’s okay to eat what you normally eat, in moderation. It’s just, people overdo it, like me. I wish, at the age I was, I knew that.”

6. Patsy Adams, Letcher Co.
Patsy says that by the time she got the tell-tale symptoms of type 2 diabetes (vision problems, constant thirst), it was too late: she already had it. She advises everybody to get their A1c levels tested: “Go get it checked! It ain’t gonna hurt.”

7. Bridget Turner, Breathitt Co.
Bridget Turner is a lifestyle coach at Juniper Health’s DPP Program, and she says that healthier food and exercise choices can prevent type 2 diabetes. She says that the DPP’s group format lets everyone–including her–learn from each other. She says, “Stop by! Just see what the class is like.”