Alice West-Ferguson was delighted when Hadley launched its Managing Diabetes workshop series. She had contacted Hadley just a few days before to ask about this type of support.
“I was having trouble with the diabetes pen,” Alice shared. “The Hadley workshop showed me how to use it, and I have been doing it myself every day since!”
Alice also puts into practice many other Hadley tips such as how to slice away from her hand to work safely in the kitchen; ways to improve the lighting in her home to help her see her medications; and how to use the text-to-speech feature on her smart phone. “Hadley is very helpful,” she states. “I am impressed by all it offers.” Alice especially likes being able to replay the workshops to make sure she has fully learned the material.
After retiring from her work as a computer specialist in 1997, Alice enjoyed being a substitute teacher, researching her genealogy, and swimming several days a week.
Alice is now 81 years old and health challenges, including vision loss, have made it difficult to do many of the things she loves. Through local services in Maryland, she received in-person training to help do things like use bump dots to label settings on her microwave. She is now awaiting another in-home visit to learn to use her walker along with a white cane so she can navigate outside of her apartment. In the meantime, she is staying physically active by walking in place—a suggestion she picked up in a Hadley Presents podcast.
Help flows both ways between Alice and Hadley. She supports Hadley financially and routinely gives feedback on the workshops. In fact, her reviews have been so helpful that she was named a Hadley HERO.