SaRene Brooks becomes the health department’s first Certified Diabetes Educator

(February 2019) – SaRene Brooks achieved Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) status by successfully completing the Certification Examination for Diabetes Educators. Brooks completed rigorous eligibility requirements to earn her CDE. She met the first requirement in 2015 when she became a Registered Dietitian. She then had to provide 1,000 hours of diabetes education to the community and receive 15 hours of continuing education.

“Diabetes is a growing concern in America and in our community,” said Shelley Worley, Summit County Health Promotion Director. “Having SaRene certified as a Diabetes Educator is an important step to expand our efforts to prevent and manage diabetes in Summit County. We appreciate all of SaRene’s hard work and dedication to earn this certification.”

Achieving certification status demonstrates to people with diabetes and employers that the health care professional possesses distinct and specialized knowledge about diabetic health, thereby promoting quality of care for people with diabetes. Brooks has been working towards her CDE certification for the past three and a half years. She plans to use her certification to educate Summit County residents about managing, understanding and preventing Diabetes.

“Diabetes can be a complicated disease,” Brooks said. “But with the right education and initiative, it can be successfully managed. My goal as a Certified Diabetes Educator is to empower those with diabetes to live healthy lives.”

The Summit County Health Department is offering prevention classes for Type 2 Diabetes. Interested individuals can learn more at summitcountyhealth.org/diabetes-class.