With November as National Diabetes Month, the Caridad Center, 8645 W. Boynton Beach Blvd., is amping up its Prevention Education and Treatment Program to help out at-risk residents who can’t afford treatment otherwise.

The PET Program is designed to reduce patient's risk of developing a chronic disease or to help patients reduce complications if already diagnosed.

The program goals include early detection and education for patients, the monitoring of the newly diagnosed and the reduction of complications with the disease.

Megan Doney, special events and marketing coordinator for the Caridad Center, said the PET Program also offers diabetes nutrition classes and exercise education.

Doney said a health fair in the center’s parking lot from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 14 will also be available to help those in need screen for diabetes and other diseases. The fair will provide free lab testing for blood sugar, hepatitis, blood pressure, cholesterol, HIV, vision tests and urinalysis.

The Caridad Center provides free medical and dental care, and education programs for more than 7,000 who live and work in Palm Beach County but can’t afford healthcare. The center sees mostly children and families of agricultural workers, laborers and the underserved.

Carmen Nieves, clinic director, said the PET Program started with diabetes but that it was so effective that it expanded to cover other diseases such as hypertension and obesity.

Nieves said anywhere up to 60 percent of the clinic’s patients are at-risk of diabetes due to ethnicity and family history. The Caridad Center’s clinic population is 90 percent Hispanic.

“We have a high number here,” Nieves said. “We don’t just work with already diagnosed people but highly at-risk people referred to us by doctors.”

Patients are screened for diabetes risk factors through appropriate measures such as laboratory tests, BMI calculations, and risk factor assessment surveys, which include questions regarding age, physical activity, family history, and other illnesses.

Nieves said it is crucial to diagnose diabetes early because it is a gateway disease that leads to cardio-vascular disease and kidney failure.

For information, call the Caridad Center at 561-737-6336.

Mike Rothman can be reached at mkrothman@tribune.com.