The Forest County Potawatomi Community (FCPC) Special Diabetes Program for Indians (SDPI) respectfully requests $132,418 to expand diabetes-related education on prevention and management throughout the period of performance. The FCPC SDPI program, with the help of FCPC’s Health and Wellness Center (HWC) and FCPC’s Community Health Department (CHD), plans to focus on a new best practice, diabetes-related education, which will feature a newly developed monthly event called Diabetes Days. The number and percent of individuals receiving education will be tracked and reported as required by the Required Key Measure.
FCPC SDPI recognizes the risk of diabetes within the community and strives to reduce diabetes prevalence through education and individualized patient care. According to the FCPC Diabetes Audits from the last two years, access to nutrition-based education dropped significantly from 57% to 3%. Additionally, physical activity amongst FCPC patients with a diabetes diagnosis also dropped from 35% to 22%. FCPC SDPI believes these two factors have contributed to elevated obesity rates among diabetes patients, a common risk indicator for type 2 diabetes. Diabetes prevalence in the FCPC community is concerning at nearly 13% for FCPC patients.
Patients who participate in Diabetes Days will meet with the HWC nutritionist to develop a self-management plan through nutrition, and patients will have additional opportunities for diabetes-related education during the event. Patients also have the chance to schedule all their diabetes-related appointments on the same day, increasing appointment attendance while decreasing the number of visits to the clinic. This aspect is especially important as the FCPC reservation is a patchwork of land located primarily in Forest County in northern Wisconsin. The remote geographical location and the distance to the HWC present a challenge for the FCPC community.
The SDPI program has been invaluable to the health of the community. The Indian Health Service’s financial assistance is critical to the continuation of this key Tribal program.