The Area Agency on Aging (AAA) of the Deep East Texas Council of Governments (DETCOG) has just graduated its first class of volunteer Chronic Pain Self-Management trainers. The seven volunteer trainers – Cathy Pearson, Katherine Tuck, Eugene Figat, Carletta Cramer, Velta Page, Tiffany Butler and Laura Jarvis – came from all around the DETCOG twelve county region.
Many of today’s adults have chronic conditions that can lead to a lower quality of life, lead to a loss of independence, increased use of health care services and shortened life spans. The AAA provides workshops in chronic pain, diabetes and chronic disease self-management. It also offers “Matter of Balance” training in fall prevention. These programs use proven self-management techniques developed by Stanford University.
“The information, tips and techniques we have to offer are geared towards people who want to help themselves, and others, better manage chronic conditions,” says Holly Anderson, the AAA Director.
To get additional information on AAA’s chronic condition management training contact Bobbie Stott at the Area Agency on Aging of Deep East Texas at (409) 384-5704 ext. 5303 or b.stott@detcog.org. Funding for the “Managing Chronic Pain” workshops is provided by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.