American Diabetes Association, Walmart Team Up for 'Wellness Day'

Officials with Walmart are teaming up with the American Diabetes Association (ADA) to offer support to people who are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes.

On June 17, as part of their annual Wellness Day, Walmart will offer free health screenings, including blood pressure and blood glucose checks, and body mass indext tests in its more than 4,600 locations across the country, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time. Following the June 17 Walmart Wellness Day, the ADA will follow up via email with interested customers whose blood pressure and blood glucose tests indicated they may be at a greater risk for diabetes, providing suggested next steps and resources.

According to the American Diabetes Association, one in 11 Americans has diabetes today, and 86 million more — about one in three – are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is expected to be a hot topic of discussion at the ADA's meeting, scheduled to kick off this weekend in San Diego.

“We’re more committed than ever to serving as an open door to affordable, accessible healthcare, and our Walmart Wellness Day program is a key piece of that,” said George Riedl, senior vice president & president, Walmart Health & Wellness. “We know that many of our customers have learned about an existing health problem for the first time at one our Walmart Wellness Day events, and that can be overwhelming. Walmart is proud to be working with the American Diabetes Association to offer even more support to customers who may find themselves in this situation.”

Since its first Walmart Wellness Day event, the company has provided nearly 1.1 million free health screenings to people across the country. These events have helped countless individuals uncover existing health problems, including high blood pressure, signs of diabetes and other potential illness. Just this past January, free screenings topped 338,000.

Future Walmart Wellness Days with the American Diabetes Association are planned for September 2017, January 2018, and spring 2018.

Reference

Walmart Teams up with American Diabetes Association for Walmart Wellness Day [news release]. Bentonville, Ark. Walmart website. Accessed at: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170607006462/en/Walmart-Teams-American-Diabetes-Association%C2%AE-Walmart-Wellness. June 8, 2017.