By Megan Ma

Courtesy of Frank Villa Visitors attend a workshop on chronic illnesses to determine what support and resources are available to them.

Those living with a chronic illness such as diabetes often have trouble finding adequate support and resources in their quest to manage their diseases.

The Stanford Patient Research team seeks to fill that need by inviting all adults who have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes to participate in its upcoming diabetes self-management workshop and study. The free workshop will be held at El Camino Hospital for two-and-a-half hours each week beginning Sept. 16.

The six-week-long study, facilitated by instructors, addresses issues from nutrition to exercise and stress-management, which for diabetes sufferers can make a huge difference in quality of life, said Frank Villa, project manager of the study at the Stanford School of Medicine.

Peer educators who are coping with diabetes themselves lead the workshop. It’s often more effective to translate the message of health care to someone else when you’re in the same shoes, Villa said.

“Our peer educators are really motivating. Instead of being taught by a nurse or a doctor, they (students) have someone they can relate to,” he said.

Palo Alto resident Laura DeNola has been a peer educator for nearly five years in the diabetes and chronic disease workshops. She is convinced that more people can benefit from the intimate courses, which provide care in a more “meaningful and sympathetic fashion” than cursory doctor’s visits, in which patient care is often hurried.

“It’s very sad how little help people get other than ‘take this medication’ and then are sent away. The idea people realize here is that they’re not alone, and there are others who share similar things,” DeNola said.

The Stanford Patient Research team designs detailed course materials for participants and trains leaders intensively. Their goal, Villa said, is to hold the workshop in communities throughout the country.

There is no charge to participate in this and other chronic disease workshops. Registration is required as space is limited.

For more information or to register, call the Stanford Patient Education Research Center at (800) 366-2624.