UAMS, AR Health Ventures Partner with Arkansas Pharmacies to Improve Diabetes Education
| Pharmacies across Arkansas are offering diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) programs as part of a collaboration with AR Health Ventures and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ (UAMS) Institute for Community Health Innovation to help rural, diabetic Arkansans better understand and manage their diabetes.
Funded by the U.S Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), the program — named Reaching Every Arkansan by Connecting Health (REACH) Resources to Reduce Diabetes Disparities — will improve access to diabetes self-management education and support for rural and underserved populations in 61 high-need counties in Arkansas. The REACH program will allow partners to support rural pharmacies in the development of such diabetes self-management programs and train community health workers to support diabetes patients.
Also partnering to implement DSMES programs in pharmacies are the Arkansas Community Health Worker Association and the Arkansas Community Pharmacy Enhanced Services Network.
In 2024, the institute helped 15 pharmacies complete the PharmFurther NCPA Diabetes Accreditation Bootcamp. Two of those pharmacies have received accreditation through the program as of January 2025, with another three nearing accreditation.
“For many patients, having DSMES offered locally is convenient,” said Julie Stewart, a pharmacist with Medical Arts Pharmacy in Fayetteville, one of five participating pharmacies statewide that are now offering DSMES classes. “Many of them have seen and appreciated the benefits of learning more about their condition, so they have a better sense of how it works and how they can modify their lifestyle to better manage their diabetes.”
Other pharmacies now offering DSMES classes include Achor Family Pharmacy in Maumelle, Cave City Pharmacy, Corner Drug Store in Melbourne, and McCoy-Tygart Drug in Sheridan. Together, the pharmacies serve 10 counties: Fulton, Grant, Independence, Izard, Jefferson, Lawrence, Madison, Pulaski, Sharp and Washington.
“Our goal is to ensure every Arkansan has the opportunity for optimal health,” said Pearl McElfish, Ph.D., division director of the Institute for Community Health Innovation. “Thanks to the commitment of our partners and participating pharmacies, we’re able to provide culturally relevant, effective education and support to diabetic Arkansans across the state so they can effectively manage their condition and live healthier lives.”
According to the American Diabetes Association, more than 300,000 Arkansans — nearly 14% of the state’s population — have been diagnosed with diabetes, while an additional 70,000 Arkansans are believed to have undiagnosed diabetes.
Founded in 2012 as the UAMS Office of Community Health and Research, the institute has worked with clinics, churches, community organizations and community members to research diabetes and to implement culturally tailored diabetes self-management programs, including a family-model program. AR Health Ventures is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the health, health care and well-being of Arkansans by fostering commercial investment in inventions, discoveries and work products arising from research at UAMS.
For more information about the program, visit communityhealth.uams.edu.