Last updated on August 16th, 2012 at 12:07 pm
Florida-based Winn-Dixie is joining the Diabetes Prevention and Control Alliance (DPCA), an initiative aimed at tipping the scales against the epidemic of diabetes, prediabetes and obesity by expanding access to community-based programs that use evidence-based approaches to help prevent and control diabetes.
Trained Winn-Dixie pharmacists in 29 select Winn-Dixie stores in Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa 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. After an initial visit, in-store pharmacists in the select Winn-Dixie locations will provide quarterly consultations to enrolled patients to evaluate their success in adhering to prescribed diabetes regimens and review patients’ test results for blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol.
“Diabetes is an epidemic that affects millions of people across the country,” said John Fegan, Winn-Dixie VP of pharmacy. “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.”
Winn-Dixie joins UnitedHealth Group, the Y, Walgreens, Novo Nordisk, Albertsons, Kroger and others as Alliance partners.
“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,” said Dr. Deneen Vojta, SVP of 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 rate of diabetes in Florida has doubled over the past 15 years, rising from 5.7 percent in 1995 to 9.9 percent currently, and ranking Florida in the top 10 states in the country, according to a report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. According to the Florida Department of Health, diabetes costs the state an estimated $8.7 billion annually.
UnitedHealth Group created the Alliance, in partnership with the YMCA and retail pharmacies, to help address the epidemic of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. According to a report from the UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization, if current trends continue, prediabetes and type 2 diabetes will affect more than half of all Americans at an annual cost of $500 billion within the next decade.
There are two main components to the Alliance: the Diabetes Control Program, designed to reduce health complications among people with diabetes; and the Diabetes Prevention Program, which seeks to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes among people who are at higher risk for the disease.
