About a year ago, Kristina of Anchorage got a wake-up call from her doctor. After some tests, she found out her blood sugar levels were higher than they’d ever been. A nutrition specialist recommended she join a program to better manage diabetes. Kristina signed up.

“I was at a point in my life where I realized I have to make a change,“ she said.

Kristina joined a free, online program to manage diabetes from Alaska’s Fresh Start campaign.

• This and other Fresh Start programs are free. No health insurance is required.
• The online Fresh Start program to manage diabetes matches you with a coach and a certified diabetes specialist so you don’t have to do it alone.
• You receive free tools. The program to manage diabetes provides free blood sugar monitors and short weekly lessons for 6-12 months.
• This diabetes management program is done online at your pace— wherever you are.

Complete Fresh Start programs anywhere, anytime

Kristina chose an online program because she could do it anywhere, anytime. Kristina lives in Anchorage, but travels to work most weeks at Red Dog Mine. The online program meant she could chat with her coach from home or her living quarters at the mine.

“I’m not restricted to certain times. I’m not restricted at all,” she said about completing the online program. “To me, that flexibility was really nice for my lifestyle.”

Kristina got results no matter where she was. She lost 50 pounds and returned her blood sugar to healthy levels.

Feel better now and later

Joining a free Fresh Start program can help you improve your health now and later. Most Alaska adults live with at least one chronic disease or a related behavior, like smoking. Almost 1 out of 10 Alaska adults (8%) have diabetes, which is a chronic, or long-lasting, disease.

With diabetes, your body doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use it well. When that happens, too much blood sugar stays in your bloodstream. Your body has trouble moving blood sugar into your body’s cells to use as energy. Diabetes can lead to many other health problems over time, including heart disease, chronic kidney disease, nerve damage, amputations, and hearing or vision loss. Fortunately, lowering blood sugar and managing diabetes can improve chances for a longer, healthier life.  

Managing diabetes can take practice, but you don’t have to figure it out alone. Through the online Fresh Start program, Kristina worked with an online coach and read short weekly lessons wherever she was, at any time of day. Those lessons reminded her about healthy changes she could make to feel better.

Click here to see if you’re eligible for Alaska’s free online program to lower blood sugar and manage diabetes. In Alaska, the Fresh Start online program to manage diabetes is free for all eligible adults. Alaska also offers in-person programs to manage diabetes, but only in select communities and some programs have a cost. Learn more online about in-person diabetes management programs.

Join Fresh Start programs to meet health goals

Alaska’s Fresh Start programs offer free support to meet other health goals as well. You can join programs to:

• lose weight
• lower blood sugar or lower blood pressure
• stop smoking; vaping; or using chew, dip, or Iqmik
• be active with your family

Kristina felt so good after joining the online Fresh Start programs that she asked her husband, Pete, to enroll. He did and has lost 60 pounds. Kristina and Pete are featured in a short video to share the free programs for better health with Alaskans. Kristina said she hopes the health improvements they’ve made through the programs will help them live longer, together.

 “I really feel like my husband and I have been given a fresh start,” she said.

  Alaska, blood sugar, diabetes, health, manage, online, program