Type 2 Diabetes Project

With support from Healthcare Excellence Canada (HEC), RCCbc partnered with the Institute for Personalized Therapeutic Nutrition (IPTN), the Institute for Health System Transformation and Sustainability (IHSTS), and the rural communities of Tumbler Ridge and Port Alberni to co-create food-based, culturally safe services focused on type 2 diabetes remission. Using the Partnership Pentagram Plus model as a foundation, the initiative emphasises community leadership, Indigenous engagement, and team-based care rooted in local strengths.

This work is part of HEC’s Strengthening Primary Care initiative, which supports 20 teams across Canada to improve access to safe, team-based primary care—especially in northern, rural, and remote communities.

Matilda Atelo, FNHA Indigenous Educator (Diabetes) at the Food is Medicine Diabetes Gathering in Port Alberni.

Ken Watts, (Elected Chief Councillor, Tseshaht First Nation), Dr. Ian Warbrick (Internist, Port Alberni), and Les Doiron (Vice President, Nuu-chah-nulth) at the Food is Medicine Diabetes Gathering in Port Alberni.

“We experience the joy that patients feel when they learn that improving type 2 diabetes is within their control. ”

Tumbler Ridge physician

Achievements

Community-Led Design Rooted in Local Strengths

In both Tumbler Ridge and Port Alberni, the initiative focused on broad community engagement and co-design, building supports around what each community already had. Grocery stores, restaurants, pharmacies, and local leaders played active roles in raising awareness and shaping services. In Port Alberni, this work included the “Food is Medicine Diabetes Gathering”—a community wellness event that offered screening, education, and connection to traditional foods and healers as part of a culturally grounded approach to diabetes care.

Culturally Safe Tools and Resources

Through an approach grounded in appreciative inquiry and cultural humility, the team supported the development of flexible, self-serve toolkits that can be adapted by other communities seeking to create their own remission supports.

Improved Access to Diagnostics and Monitoring

Point-of-care HbA1C testing is now available in both communities—through a community pharmacy in Tumbler Ridge and via a First Nations initiative in Port Alberni—enabling easier diagnosis and monitoring.

Provider Education to Support Patient-Led Choices

Over 200 physicians and healthcare providers accessed evidence-informed resources to help patients pursue food-based approaches safely and effectively.

Explore the numbers

200+ clinicians and care providers

engaged on this project

2 rural communities

in BC partnered

$1,500 startup cost

per HbA1C testing machine

$20 per test

cost of individual monitoring

“The program will not only transform the health and wellness of everyone, but shift the way we think, talk, design programs, prescribe, and eat.”

Community member, Tumbler Ridge

Plans for the Future

This was a one-time initiative that has laid important groundwork for future programmatic work. RCCbc hopes to support other rural and Indigenous communities in adapting and expanding this model, reinforcing health sovereignty and community-led chronic disease prevention.