Pilot

Diabetes Education Program

Receives $5,000 Select Health Grant

Family Health Services (FHS) has received a $5,000 grant from Select Health that will support the piloting of a Diabetes Self-Management and Education Support (DSMES) program.

This program was designed by Megan Williams at the Shoshone Family Medical Center, which transitioned into an FHS clinic in 2022. Williams brings her experience to FHS as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Licensed Dietitian, and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist.

In 2022, FHS treated 2,930 patients with diabetes. From January to July of 2023, FHS has treated 2,767 patients. Anticipating the number of patients diagnosed with diabetes to increase within one year, FHS has recognized the need for an education program that focuses on diabetes self-management practices.

Benefits of this program include lower A1C levels, less hospital admissions or readmissions, fewer ER visits, reduced stress, and improved self-care behaviors that often improve a patient’s lifelong management of the disease.

“This is a pilot program, but it provides in-depth education about the diabetes disease process in an easy to understand method, in patients' appropriate language,” said Williams. “Every patient with diabetes can benefit from evidence-based education about the disease as well as current treatments to improve and maintain the quality of their life,” said Dr. Davis.

“FHS hopes to expand the program to the organization’s largest clinic at 388 Martin St. in Twin Falls and hire two new DSMES-trained staff members. FHS will eventually offer DSMES to patients with diabetes at all medical sites,” said CEO Aaron Houston.

The FHS award is among 10 grants presented statewide by Select Health, a non-profit organization that provides health insurance to more than 1 million members in Idaho, Utah and Nevada. Select Health is a division of Intermountain Health.

The Select Health Awards support non-profits and other organizations that provide services for improving health in Idaho. The $5,000 grants are intended to address three focus areas:

Notices of Upcoming Events & Meetings

Buy Your Raffle Tickets!

On Fridays and Saturdays at the Gooding Museum and at the Gooding Farmers Market, you can purchase raffle tickets to win a Custom Wood Tray or Candle Holders by Robert Morris, a cowboy print by Don Gill, or a handmade Sunbonnet Sue Quilt. Ticket are $3 or two for $5. The drawing will be August 19th at 5:00 p.m. at the fair.

Fairfield Museum Open for the Summer

The Fairfield Depot Museum will be open on Friday, August 4th from 11 to 3 during the Fair. Next dates August 14th & 15th and September 4th & 5th.

Or... by appointment. Contact Patti Davis.

Rest for Weary Travelers

Downtown Gooding, Idaho

413 Main Street

208-944-9488

Clean Modern Rooms w/ Free Wi-fi & Dish Network historiclincolninn.com

All Bound Up with Field Bindweed

by Camas Bug Crew

Take a drive along Camas roads and look out in the fields. You will see a carpet of green with purple, violet, and white blossoms. Say, “Hello” to field bindweed. Today’s invader is quite the weed. Scientists have found roots from this weed as far down as 20 feet! Good luck pulling that! It would do no good anyway because this weed just sends out tubers laterally and pops back up three feet away. Here is what you need to know.

Field bindweed is a creeping perennial vine native to Eurasia. It can grow from 0.3 to 2 m in length and often forms dense infestations consisting of one or more clones. Leaves are round to arrow-shaped 2.5 to 2.7 cm long and alternate along a prostrate stem. Flowering occurs in the mid-summer, when white to pale pink, funnel-shaped flowers develop and continues into early fall. Flowers are typically 1.9-2.5 cm in diameter and are subtended by small bracts. Seed pods are pointed and approximately 5 mm long. Each pod contains four rough, pear-shaped seeds which can remain viable in the soil for up to 10 years and as long as 50 years under the right conditions. Field bindweed is thought to have been introduced into North America as a contaminant in crop seed as early as 1739. Plants tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions and elevations-from cultivated fields to waste areas. This invasive species is present in all 48 contiguous states and Hawaii. There is a biological predator to bindweed.

John Howsden

208-358-0093

155 B Avenue E -- Wendell, Idaho

ACMA is a gall-forming Eriophyid mite which stunts, reduces plant density, and reduces flowering in field bindweed. Galls are typically found on the leaves or stem buds. The stems form compact clusters of stunted leaves when they are attacked. When the leaves are attacked, they fold or twist upward along the midrib where the mite feeding occurs. These agents are present year-round producing multiple generations per year. The two nymphal stages resemble the adults but lac external genitalia. The adults are microscopic and worm-like with an annulate body with two pairs of legs on the combined head and thorax the soft-bodied adults are increasingly available from establishing field sites. Galls can be handpicked and stored for several weeks if refrigerated. Wrapping infested stems around bindweed plants or transferring individual galls to the tip of the stem are the best methods to conduct new releases.

Bindweed can really be a menace. The best plan is to keep it under control. Tilling, biological control, and spaying are a few options. If you are bound up with bindweed, it might be a good idea to give Terry Lee (Camas weed superintendent) a call and see what he has to say. He can be reached at 208-764-3512.