Covid connections paved way for diabetes education in Latinx Maryland

Norma Reyes stopped giving her children lots of soda and juice, allowing all four of them to split one small bottle on rare occasions. She lost 10 pounds and serves smaller meals at home. But the struggle continues with her husband and brother-in-law, who she said are both prediabetic and need reminding that, nutritionally, one beer equals two cups of rice. Reyes, 37, learned techniques to improve her family’s wellness through healthy eating and exercise in a lecture and Zumba series run by Luminis Health which serves a heavily Latino population in Prince George’s County, an area hit hard by coronavirus. At the height of the pandemic, the hospital system recruited churches to host education sessions and vaccine clinics, forging relationships helped them learn more about the needs of the community — a model providers aim to replicate in underserved areas.