Q&A: Social Drivers, Access to Care Limit Reach of Pharmacy-Based Diabetes Programs

Jasmine Perry, PharmD, CPHQ, senior clinical pharmacist, professional engagement and quality at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, sat down with Drug Topics at the 2024 National Association of Chain Drug Stores Total Store Expo to discuss the importance of addressing care disparities and breaking care barriers in underserved communities.

Drug Topics: How can potential disparities in care be addressed when implementing pharmacy-based diabetes programs?

Jasmine Perry: Disparities in care, we know they exist, and we know that specifically, underserved communities have health disparities in diabetes.

How can we have more impact as we implement programs and community pharmacies? Honestly, through access or addressing these external factors that can have impact beyond just the medical component. Impacting things like social drivers of health, thinking about access to medications, access to providers, access to education, food, healthy resources, access to being able to exercise or walk around your community.

I think that [in] addressing disparities… Of course, you can't address all disparities through social drivers of health, but you can start to have impact. And while all disparities aren't directly related to, or correlated with, drivers of health, I think that you can have tremendous impact by starting there, starting with the holistic view of person's health, and not just the medications or medical components.

READ MORE: Community-Level Social Determinants of Health Impact on Risk of Pregestational, Gestational Diabetes

Drug Topics: Given that half of Americans have diabetes or pre-diabetes, what do you believe are the most significant barriers to effective diabetes care at the community level?

Perry: A lot of Americans have diabetes [or] pre-diabetes, but I think the biggest barriers to care are access. We have the tools in the toolbox that we need to have impact: We have the medication, we have the research, we have the evidence of things that can help improve HbA1c, but access—giving access to communities across the US—to these resources is vitally important.

Yes, we have the tools in the toolbox, but we need to disseminate or give everyone the tools that they need to be successful. I think the biggest barriers to achievement of clinical outcomes or health goals is access to care.

The 2024 National Association of Chain Drug Stores Total Store Expo was held August 17 to August 19, 2024, in Boston, Massachusetts. Click here for more of our coverage.