MARQUETTE — The Upper Peninsula Commission for Area Progress recently announced a series of online health workshops along with Michigan Area Agencies on Aging that will focus on guiding individuals who are battling cancer, chronic pain or diabetes.

The six-part workshops will run from now through May and are divided into six different schedules to accommodate a wide range of people. The workshops are open to all Michigan residents, and will be held virtually via the video conferencing software Zoom.

According to the National Cancer Institute, over 1.8 million new cases of cancer were expected to be diagnosed in the United States, with an estimated 606,520 people expected to die from the disease. As of 2019, there were an estimated 16.9 million cancer survivors in the U.S., a number expected to increase to 22.2 million by 2030.

The Institute also lists the most common forms of cancer as breast cancer, lung and bronchus cancer, prostate cancer, colon and rectum cancer, melanoma of the skin, bladder cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, kidney and renal pelvis cancer, endometrial cancer, leukemia, pancreatic cancer, thyroid cancer and liver cancer.

The cancer workshops are targeted at anyone who is currently battling or have survived the disease.

“For individuals with any kind of cancer,” UPCAP and Michigan Area Agencies on Aging stated in a news release. “Whether newly diagnosed, in active treatment, or living beyond active treatment, this program helps survivors improve how they manage their situation to cope and feel better. Topics include dealing with difficult emotions, managing pain and fatigue, getting better sleep, eating healthy, staying active, and living with uncertainty or fear of recurrence.”

A study conducted by Dr. Carla E. Zelaya, Dr. James M. Dahlhamer, Jacqueline W. Lucas and Eric M. Connor published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that 20.4% of adults suffered from some form of chronic pain in 2019 while 7.4% of adults said their cases of chronic pain frequently limited life or work activities. This is often referred to as high impact chronic pain.

While medicines and treatments can ease chronic pain, there’s no known official cure. The chronic pain workshops aim to help individuals navigate through the hurdles often involved with chronic pain.

“An interactive workshop that helps individuals with chronic pain improve how they manage their situation to cope and feel better,” the release states. “Topics include pacing and planning for optimal energy, dealing with difficult emotions managing pain and fatigue, getting better sleep, eating healthy, staying active and positive thinking.”

The American Diabetes Association says 34.4 million Americans, or 10.5% of the U.S. population, had diabetes as of 2018. Over 14 million Americans age 65 and older have diabetes, and nearly 1.6 Americans have Type 1 diabetes, often the more severe among Type 1 and Type 2. An estimated 1.5 million new cases of diabetes pop up in the U.S. each year.

The diabetes workshops will help individuals with things such as meals, stress and more.

“An interactive workshop that helps individuals with pre-diabetes or Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes improve how they manage their situation to cope and feel better,” the release states. “Topics include monitoring and balancing blood sugar, creating meal plans, decreasing stress, dealing with difficult emotions, and preventing complications.”

Each workshop session will meet for two and a half hours one a week for six weeks. Those who are interested will need a webcam and microphone to participate in the Zoom sessions.

Three of the workshops kicked off this week starting with the Friday morning cancer workshop, which runs from Feb. 19 through March 26 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The other cancer session will run on Monday afternoons from April 12 to May 17 from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. To register for either workshop, call 517-592-1974 or email livingwellprograms@r2aaa.net.

The first chronic pain workshop kicked off on Monday and will run through March 29 from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. A Monday morning chronic pain session will take place from March 29 to May 3 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. You can register for the first workshop by calling 517-592-1974 or emailing livingwellprograms@r2aaa.net, or the second workshop by calling or 833-262-2200 or emailing wellnessprograms@aaa1b.org.

The diabetes workshops run Monday evenings Feb. 22 through March 29 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. or Friday mornings from March 12 to April 16 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. To register for the first workshop, call the Tri-County Office on Aging at 517-887-1465. To register for the second workshop, call 833-262-2200 or email wellnessprograms@aaa1b.org.

For more information on UPCAP, visit www.upcap.org or call 906-786-4701.

Ryan Spitza can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. His email address is rspitza@miningjournal.net.