ORLANDO, Fla. — Food and drug retailer Winn-Dixie Stores is joining the Diabetes Prevention and Control Alliance (DPCA), an initiative aimed at battling the epidemic of diabetes, prediabetes and obesity.
UnitedHealth Group, which formed the alliance in partnership with the YMCA and retail pharmacies, said Tuesday that the effort expands access to community-based programs that use evidence-based approaches to prevent and control diabetes.
Trained Winn-Dixie pharmacists in 29 select Winn-Dixie stores in Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa, Fla., will support patients enrolled in the alliance’s Diabetes Control Program to help people with diabetes learn to better manage their condition and adhere to their physicians’ recommendations. Winn-Dixie pharmacists will provide patient education and support to help people with diabetes better control the disease and reduce the risk of developing complications, such as cardiovascular, kidney and eye disease.
Following an initial visit, in-store pharmacists in select Winn-Dixie supermarkets will provide quarterly consultations to enrolled patients to gauge their success in adhering to prescribed diabetes regimens and review patient test results for blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol.
"Diabetes is an epidemic that affects millions of people across the country," John Fegan, Winn-Dixie vice president of pharmacy, said in a statement. "By joining the Diabetes Prevention and Control Alliance, Winn-Dixie is able to offer participating patients the support and resources they need to help them tackle this disease and improve their health."
Other Diabetes Prevention and Control Alliance partners include Walgreens, Albertsons, Kroger and Novo Nordisk, among others.
"We welcome Winn-Dixie as a new alliance partner and look forward to working together to help people in Florida and across the country learn how to take control of their diabetes and improve their health," stated Deneen Vojta, senior vice president at UnitedHealth Group and chief clinical officer of the Diabetes Prevention and Control Alliance. "The DPCA programs have been proven to make an impact on the nation’s diabetes epidemic, and new partners like Winn-Dixie are helping to broaden the reach of these programs to help individuals, families and communities live healthier lives."
The alliance has two main components: the Diabetes Control Program, designed to reduce health complications among people with diabetes, and the Diabetes Prevention Program, aimed at preventing or delaying the onset of type 2 diabetes among people at higher risk for the disease.
Under the Diabetes Control Program, people with diabetes get access to trained pharmacists who provide personalized coaching and counseling to help improve adherence to treatment plans. Face-to-face consultations with community pharmacists have proved effective in controlling diabetes and other chronic diseases, the alliance noted, adding that the goal of the program is for patients to lower their blood glucose and HbA1c levels. According to the National Institutes of Health, every percentage point drop in HbA1c correlates to a 40% decreased risk of developing complications from diabetes such as heart disease, kidney failure, blindness and limb amputations.
