BCBSTX Members May Attend Health Education Classes

Staying healthy is important! That’s why Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas worked with Randalls to provide free diabetes classes to our members in 2017. The classes are part of our Living365 program, which includes member education materials such as brochures, tracking cards and, classes. The classes were led by a Randalls pharmacist and dietitian and gave members a chance to:

• Go on a “Healthy Eating” grocery tour with a dietitian and learn about counting carbohydrates, different types of fats, reading food labels and more
• Engage with a pharmacist to learn more about diabetes and related treatments, monitoring blood glucose, and incorporating physical activity into their lifestyle
• Participate in a question and answer session
• Receive educational materials and items such as glucose tablets and gels, fiber supplements, diabetic skin cream and a Living365 tote bag

“When you have diabetes, shopping for groceries can be a challenge,” said Jay Gandhi, VP, Enterprise Pharmacy Government Programs.  “Our Living365 program helps members by using their local grocery store and pharmacy as a live classroom. The program is designed to help members in the most positive and real-world setting. Albertsons Market, Randalls, and Tom Thumb play an important role in helping members, including coordination of medications, medication reviews and patient education among other services.”

And here’s some good news: due to the positive response of the diabetes classes, we are expanding our efforts this year to include asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) classes.

Register for the asthma/COPD classes to:

• Learn more about the causes, symptoms and management of asthma and COPD from an Albertsons Market, Randalls, or Tom Thumb pharmacist
• Learn how to take your inhaled medications. Using demonstration inhalers, the pharmacist will show you helpful techniques and common mistakes
• Be part of a question and answer session
• Receive education materials including an asthma/COPD booklet and water bottle

We will be holding classes for asthma/COPD in June and July of 2018. The diabetes classes return in September and October. Keep an eye on your mail for a class being held near you. We expect the classes to fill up fast. You can register for the asthma/COPD classes online at these various locations: Albertsons Market, Randalls, or Tom Thumb. Stay tuned for registration information for the diabetes classes.