Marketplace Clinics Complementing Diabetes Care for Urban Residing American Indians

For several decades, the Minneapolis American Indian population has experienced limited health care access and threefold diabetes health disparity. As part of an urban health initiative, the marketplace clinics located in nearby CVS, Target, and Supervalu stores committed financial support, providers, certified educators, and pharmacy staff for a community-based diabetes support group.

To measure the extent to which collaborating marketplace clinics and the community-based support group expanded diabetes care and provided self-management education for this largely urban Indian neighborhood.

A controlled quasi-experimental study and 3-years retrospective analysis of secondary data were used to test whether the Minneapolis marketplace clinics and the community diabetes support group participants (n = 48) had improved diabetes health outcomes relative to the comparison group (n = 87). The marketplace complemented intervention group employed motivational interviewing and the patient activation measure (PAM®) in coaching diabetes self-care and behavioral modification. The federally funded comparison group received only basic self-management education.

T tests and effect sizes were used to quantify the difference between the study intervention and comparison groups. Statistical significance was determined for the following outcome variables: A1C ( P < .01), body mass index ( P < .04), and PAM® ( P < .001).

Includes strengths, limitations, and future study recommendations.

Positive effects of marketplace clinics and community health complementation were found with regard to improved blood glucose control, weight loss, and healthful lifestyle adaptation. Primary care and community health improvements could be realized by incorporating patient activation with diabetes prevention programs for the urban Indian two-thirds majority of the United States 5 million American Indian population.