Population Health Management

IMPROVING THE HEALTH OF THE MILLE LACS BAND COMMUNITY

By VIVIAN LaMOORE, INAAJIMOWIN EDITOR

Population health management provides unique opportunities to apply overlapping and synergistic approaches to health care. That may sound pretty technical, but basically, it means that combining the power of working together is greater than the power achieved by working separately. For the Mille Lacs Band Health and Human Services Department (HHS), that translates further to, “The overall health promotion and disease prevention especially for those chronic diseases in the community and how we can provide services and programs to help community members with those things,” said Jackie (Braun) Gluck, MS, RD, and the Mille Lacs Band Population Health Manager.

The Population Health Management Department is the umbrella overseeing the Diabetes Program, SNAP-ED, Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP), and Tribal Tobacco Program.

“All of these programs have been here,” Gluck said. “We just re-organized them because they all have the same common goal of health promotion and disease prevention. So, it just made sense for all of these programs to be in one department. All of these programs have the similar goals of physical activity and nutritional components within them.”

You may recognize Gluck as Jackie (Braun) of the Diabetes and Nutrition programs. Recently, Gluck as been joined by Tiffany McLellan, the new SNAP-ED Coordinator. She is focusing on nutrition, stretching grocery budgets, and being physically active. SNAP-ED was previously under public health, and is now under Population Health Management.

SNAP-ED

McLellan will be focusing on educational programs from nutrition and physical activity for all ages. Some programs are handled in the schools, such as the Eagle Adventure for K-5 which is a spring physical activity, nutrition, and games, all with a super fun curriculum. “I am very excited about this one. Because I love kids!” McLellan said.

The after school program called “13 Moons” is a more traditional program with the Ge-Niigaanizijig students, McLellan said. This program is an Anishinaabe-focused curriculum that moves through the 13 moons and pairs educational aspects with stories from each moon. This program will be starting this fall with the Falling Leaves Moon, October.

She will also be working with Cooking is a SNAP and BINGOcize. Learn more about these upcoming programs in future issues.

“The goal is having fun and learning,” McLellan said. She comes from the Brainerd area with background in pharmacy and health care working with all ages from juveniles through Elders, working in areas of recovery, ALU, and foster care. She now joins HHS working in nutrition and physical activity. “I am really in my element here,” She added.

An added note is that McLellan is also a certified ZUMBA instructor. Gluck and McLellan are researching ways to incorporate a ZUMBA class into the work plan for under the umbrella of Population Health Management.

Diabetes program

The Diabetes Program has recently been focusing on the technology piece of diabetes management, such as insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors (CGM). CGMs replace the need to constantly prick your finger to monitor glucose.

“Technology is advancing. We now have easier ways to check blood sugars. This technology piece is really unique to our Diabetes Program in that we can really provide more education on how to use the devices and what device might be best for them,” Gluck said.

Next year, Gluck is hoping to start a pilot program for smart insulin pens, which calculate the dose of insulin needed, she added.

These technology pieces were available during the September Health Fairs in each District for Band members to find out more information. If you missed the Health Fair, please contact Gluck to set up an individual appointment.

In addition to overseeing the Diabetes Program, Gluck continues to offer diabetes education and medical nutrition therapy as well as manage the Population Health Management program and oversee the Health Fair.

If you would like to become a part of this team, please go to the Mille Lacs Band website and find information under the JOBS tab for the job posting of Community Health Educator.