American Diabetes Association ADA Adult Support Group, Honolulu

Monthly FREE educational support group meetings, with informative presentations, for those with pre-​diabetes and diabetes, whether diagnosed long ago or recently, including both Type I and Type 2. First Thursdays of the month from 1 – 2:30 pm.
Brought a diabetic friend, showed up to a room full of 18 people (mostly retiree aged, around 55 and over), 1 ADA staff person, and the speaker, a nutritionist and diabetes educator with Straub Health Education Program, who talked about planning for holiday meals and get-​togethers. Of the 18 attendees, 16 were women, and 2 men. Mostly local people of various ethnicities, in their middle aged or elderly years.
The session consisted of the guest speaker presenting her talk with a PowerPoint projector, and fielding Q&A for the first forty-​five minutes to an hour, then a «free» period of attendees sharing information on diabetes health management strategies and asking other questions about the disease, food and diet, nutritional trends (my friend inquired about coconut oil versus butter), and so on.
It was very comfortable and informal, yet reasonably structured and well run. The nutritionist clearly knew how to teach public health information to Hawai’i-raised people, demonstrating patience and humor, calling up local examples that attendees could relate to. E.g. She spoke about grandma’s overly salty and oily, home-​cooked meals and other typical local food patterns during the holidays, such as office buffets at Maki no Chaya, which tend to be pushed on diabetics during the holidays, and which should be approached with caution and pre-​planning. There was a bit of a challenge with two non-​local women at the end of the table speaking to each other loudly during the «free» question period, making it difficult to follow the conversations, but the two staff persons handled it graciously, as did the other attendees in the room.
The ADA Honolulu office staff passed around a sign-​in sheet and also made available small plates, napkins, forks, and free snacks (bottled water and cut fruit). Some longtime attendees also brought food to share from home – 1 bag of freshly picked guava, and 1 box of Love’s cake donuts (hm, not that appropriate, given the situation and audience…).
Future upcoming speakers and topics are posted on the website:
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Good to call ahead of time, in case there’s a last-​minute cancellation, and also to let them have a rough body count. At 18 plus the two ADA Office folk, it was a packed conference room.
For more information, please contact Ellie Ventula-​Honda at 808−947−5979 or
. Parking validated at Harbor Court; get the stamp from the ADA Office staff.