Diabetes Mobile Clinic brings specialist care to Calgary’s most vulnerable

Diabetes is a complex condition that can be a burden to manage even in optimal conditions. For individuals facing social barriers, including homelessness, self-management can be an overwhelmingly difficult task. 

Inability to manage diabetes can lead to a whole host of problems, such as nerve damage, kidney damage, eye damage, infections, and cardiovascular disease. In fact, individuals with diabetes are two to four times more likely to die of heart disease. 

Endocrinologist and researcher Dr. David Campbell, MD, PhD, an associate professor in the departments of Medicine, Community Health Sciences and Cardiac Sciences at the Cumming School of Medicine and a member of the Libin Cardiovascular Institute, is passionate about helping vulnerable individuals experiencing diabetes get the care they need. 

Since June 2024, Campbell has led the Diabetes Mobile Clinic (DMC), which brings diabetes testing and care to some of the most vulnerable citizens in Calgary. 

Campbell, who co-chairs the Person to Population (P2) Initiative at the Libin Cardiovascular Institute, recently received a CIHR Priority Announcement Grant. It’s exciting because the funds will allow Campbell and his team to continue their important work.  

“Most people are served well by our health-care system, but there are people who fall through the cracks – particularly those who face social complexity,” says Campbell. “Our aim with the mobile clinic is to remove some of the barriers to care by going to people rather than expecting them to come to us.” 

The DMC regularly visits The Alex Community Health Centre in East Calgary (a close partner of Campbell’s team) and the Calgary Drop-In Centre, offering diabetes testing and care, such as medication management, foot and wound care and diabetic eye tests. In the past year, they’ve served more than 200 of Calgary’s most vulnerable individuals.  

“We serve a variety of people who face social and structural disadvantages, including newcomers, people from the LGBTQ community, unstably housed individuals, vulnerable youth, and Indigenous peoples,” says Campbell. “For some, it’s their only access to speciality care.” 

According to Maureen Evans, RN, the DMC’s certified diabetes nurse educator, a large part of the DMC’s work focuses on management and prevention of secondary conditions. 

“Our goal is to make it easy for people to receive all their routine tests, so we make sure people have preventative eye exams and foot care, as well as all the tests they need to help manage their blood sugars,” she says. “We try to be a one-stop shop for people.”

The consequences could be dire without routine care, says Evans. Without the proper care, diabetes can lead to cardiovascular disease like heart attacks and strokes, amputation, blindness and kidney failure. 

The DMC team also educates its clients on the importance of healthy eating and exercise – using the principles of harm reduction – and helps connect them with local resources and services to enable them to follow these self-management strategies. 

Campbell says the grant they just received will also help the team expand the clinic’s coverage to several new sites in Calgary’s northeast, east and central areas in the coming year, providing access to care to an even more diverse population. 

According to Campbell, he and his research team are also conducting research on the DMC’s effectiveness in improving patient outcomes and how it may be removing some of the costs from the acute-care system. He says colleagues from across Canada have shown interest in adopting the DMC model in their communities. 

“Every Albertan deserves optimal care,” says Campbell. “What we are doing with the DMC is exciting and important work.”

The Person to Population Initiative at the Libin Cardiovascular Institute aims to aims to improve cardiovascular health by addressing health inequities. Learn more about this important initiative, and find out how you can contribute to its work, here. 

Dr. David Campbell is an associate professor in the departments of Medicine, Cardiac Sciences and Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine. He co-chairs the Person to Population (P2) Initiative at the Libin Cardiovascular Institute and is a member of both the Libin Cardiovascular Institute and the O’Brien Institute for Public Health.