Joanne Rinker is a Certified Diabetes Educator and Masters Level Registered Dietitian. For the past seven years she has worked to initiate, enhance, and facilitate diabetes self-management programs throughout North Carolina. Joanne’s recent consulting work has included starting a Diabetes Self-Management Program at a community hospital, teaching gestational diabetes classes, serving as the consulting dietitian for a county school system, and working in both adult and pediatric clinics.
Joanne has also worked with pediatric patients with diabetes since 2003 and enjoys the challanges of insulin adjustment, adjustments for growth spurts, social events and athletic opportunities. When asked about the positive outcomes she has helped to make in peoples lives, Joanne recalled the progress of a recent patient. “He was taking 4 different blood sugar medications when we met. After meeting with him every 2 weeks for 6 months, his blood sugar came down considerably. He was watching his diet, walking 3 miles daily, checking his blood sugar and adjusting his diet based on the results, and had an A1c of only 5.4. He was able to discontinue use of any meds and this was my model patient.”
Joanne is certified to instruct on three insulin pumps and have taught classes in diabetes management, cultural foods cooking, medications, monitoring, exercise, nutrition, stress, smoking cessation, weight management, and behavioral goal setting.
She also worked in the outpatient setting long enough to know that there are patients who want to do anything they can to improve their health and blood sugar but can’t make the 9-5 hours of typical office. Coaching on the telephone, Joanne is able to see great results. She has expressed her enthusiasm with Fit4D because it helps those patients with busy schedules and lifestyles to have guidance of how they can control their blood sugar without stepping into an office to get diabetes education.
“I love that Fit4D provides this service for our patients. My goal is to be here for them and on their timeline. We can discuss blood sugar logs, diet recalls, exercise regimens, meds, etc. All during times that best suit both the patient and the educator.”
Joanne can be reached via e-mail at jrinker@fit4d.com.