Mobile clinic drives better diabetes care

Cosmopolitan Clubs and Nebraska Methodist College have partnered to bring you a mobile diabetes clinic running out of a 36-foot recreational vehicle.

The college says the mobile clinic is a good way to reach out to patients with diabetes or those at risk for the condition, because they don't always have easy access to care.

The college's Center for Health Partnerships started running the mobile clinic this winter and said it will serve communities in Nebraska and western Iowa, traveling to senior citizen centers, churches and grocery store parking lots. The testing and other services are free.

The college's nursing faculty, nursing students and alumni staff the mobile unit. The Cornbelt Diabetes Connection, the charitable arm of the Cosmopolitan International business clubs, provides the RV and supplies the driver, gas and maintenance.

The mobile clinic is equipped to test blood sugar levels, perform foot and eye exams and provide other services. Foot and vision problems are among complications of diabetes.

The RV is not only a good way to serve patients but also to provide experience for nursing students, said Christine Clancy, a Methodist College faculty member and coordinator of the mobile clinic. She said students will treat a growing number of diabetes patients in their careers.

Monica Dulik, 24, a Methodist nursing student, said she already serves many diabetes patients in her part-time job as a hospital nursing technician.

“You see it all the time,'' she said.

After remaining steady during the 1990s, diabetes has ballooned in Nebraska and Iowa. In 2000 the rates rose above 5 percent for the first time. Since then, the number of people with diabetes has increased by two-thirds, and the rate now hovers around 8 percent.

Nationally, if current trends continue, as many as one in three adults could have diabetes by 2050, according to a federal report.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing ran a regional mobile clinic that provided diabetes screenings and other health services for 18 years. UNMC stopped using the mobile unit in December but has received a grant to fund a new mobile unit with expanded services starting this month.

Nebraska Methodist faculty and students recently took their RV to the senior citizen center in Macy, Neb., on the Omaha Indian Reservation.

Robert Dick, 60, of Macy has had diabetes for 30 years, and he had his blood sugar level, heart rate and blood pressure tested at the mobile clinic.

Dick said he monitors his blood sugar at home. But to have his vital signs checked, he must make an appointment at a doctor's office, and the mobile clinic made it more convenient.

Kim Hall, a nursing faculty member at Methodist, said even though patients can check their blood sugar at home, the mobile clinic provides education to help people manage their diabetes better.

For example, if a person's blood sugar is high, the nurse can ask about any diet changes that might be the cause. Illness can affect blood sugar levels, so the nurse can also check for flu symptoms or other problems.

Hall said nurses also stress prevention and how exercise and eating a good diet that includes fresh fruits and vegetables can reduce the risk for diabetes.