Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center (Yellowhawk) is located on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) in Northeastern Oregon. Yellowhawk has received the Special Diabetes Program for Indians Grant for the past twenty-four years to provide diabetes management and treatment services to the CTUIR community. The funding received has helped employ essential staff to provide diabetes education, support, and vital resources for our tribal community. Yellowhawk currently has 369 active patients on the diabetes registry, 9% of the total patient population. In addition, Yellowhawk’s 2021 Community Health Assessment indicates 72% of the CTUIR adult population is at risk for developing diabetes based on a BMI of 30 or greater.
The goal of the Yellowhawk Diabetes Program is to provide exceptional diabetes care, service, and support to the CTUIR community to help improve their quality of life. For 2023, the Yellowhawk Diabetes Team will focus on increasing educational opportunities to empower our patients and increase their self-efficacy for enhanced self-management. Yellowhawk has a multidisciplinary diabetes team comprising medical providers, clinical pharmacists, a personal trainer, a diabetes program manager, and a registered dietitian nutritionist. Major activities this team will provide include clinical care, medical nutrition therapy, physical activity education, healthy cooking classes, and diabetes self-management education and support. To ensure continuous quality improvement, the diabetes team will evaluate these services and activities by comparing health metrics, patient feedback forms, attendance rates, and satisfaction surveys. The evaluation information from patients and community members and annual diabetes audits will help our team determine health priorities for the subsequent years.
SDPI grant has provided Yellowhawk with financial support and the opportunity to improve services provided to the CTUIR community. Yellowhawk would not have the resources to provide the community with adequate diabetes services without these funds. In 2019, the Yellowhawk Diabetes Team shifted its approach to provide integrated clinical and community-based services for our tribal population. This approach helped improve the quality of diabetes services and broaden our reach. Despite these efforts, obesity, prediabetes, and diabetes rates continue to rise. With the support of SDPI funds, Yellowhawk will continue to address these health disparities through ongoing diabetes treatment and prevention efforts.