Current projects
1817 Prediabetes Program
- Working with community programs to offer the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) in multiple languages.
1817 Hypertension Program
- Increasing access to cardiovascular healthcare through community health workers (CHWs) and community clinics.
Merck Bridging the Gap
- Bridging the Gap is a five-year initiative (2017-2022) between the Minneapolis Health Department, three Minneapolis community clinics, and Community Health Workers (CHW) to improve the health outcomes of Minneapolis residents with diabetes.
- With funding from the Merck Foundation, the initiative aims to improve care for patients, build partnerships with community agencies that can support patients, and develop sustainable funding strategies. Participating clinics include Native American Community Clinic (NACC), Neighborhood HealthSource (NHS), and Southside Community Health Services (Southside). This video has more information on Bridging the Gap.
Progress so far:
- Addressing social needs: Clinics adopted social needs screening and refer patients to community health workers who help with diabetes self-management (e.g., healthy eating) and social needs such as housing or employment.
- Enhancing diabetes education
- Responding to COVID and social unrest
Evaluation activities focus on tracking:
- Reach and patient engagement with the diabetes care components
- Impact of the components on patients’ diabetes self-management behaviors, confidence in managing their diabetes
- Progress on social needs
- Clinical diabetes outcomes
Highrise Health Alliance (HHA)
- Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MPHA) and the Minneapolis Health Department (MHD) launched the Highrise Health Alliance (HHA) in June 2020 to build community-clinic linkages that better serve high-rise residents. The HHA is focusing on 1) access to primary care; 2) medication management and 3) mental health access as priorities.