Community Impact
Friends for a long, healthy and happy life
Walgreens participation in the Friends for Life conference helps connect kids and underscores its deep commitment to diabetes care and prevention.
A group of young kids and teens who have type 1 diabetes, their caregivers and extended families, and diabetes clinicians were gathered together to share their stories and help motivate and support others who walk in similar shoes.
The conference—which also featured keynote speaker Tracey Brown, EVP and President, Walgreens Retail & Chief Customer Officer—included Walgreens as its exclusive pharmacy partner, underscoring the company’s longstanding leadership on diabetes care and prevention.
Brown recounted her own journey with diabetes that began with the birth of her daughter 20 years ago, speaking about how her family inspired her to make healthier choices that have allowed her to live an active, fulfilling life, despite the disease.
Markes-Wilson, Walgreens director of pharmacy and retail operations for Georgia East Area in Region 28 (Georgia/North Florida), and also a pharmacist, knows of the health risks posed by the disease, but she also understands the power that education and good care play in helping people with diabetes live and thrive.
“This is the first conference I’ve ever been to where I’ve seen children who are living with diabetes interacting with other kids who have the same disease, but also with parents and grandparents,” says Markes-Wilson. “Friends for Life starts a dialogue that leads to instilling good behaviors to treat their disease and guide them to make good lifestyle choices. That’s why it’s such a good fit with Walgreens, because the more they understand diabetes, how it can impact their health and how to manage it, the healthier their lives will be.”
Committed to diabetes care
That is particularly true in underserved populations where primary care physicians can sometimes be more difficult to access and diabetes rates are higher than normal. At Walgreens, approximately 45% of pharmacists are considered people of color and often live in the same communities where they work, so they help make healthcare local and trusted.
Equipping patients with the right tools
Walgreens provides extensive diabetes resources on Walgreens.com, from tips on eating right to managing costs to free digital wellness tools. Diabetes patients can take advantage of a 24/7 live chat with a pharmacy expert to get answers to care questions and stay adherent to their medications by connecting with the pharmacy.
“We offer many opportunities for diabetes patients to connect with Walgreens wherever they are on their care journey, whether they’re newly diagnosed or have been living with the disease for years,” says Markes-Wilson. “With our digital tools, everything is accessible and at their fingertips. It’s their window to Walgreens and opens up a world of possibilities for better care.”
For Markes-Wilson, the Friends for Life conference showed that the future of diabetes care and prevention is bright.
“This conference gave me such a fulfilling feeling. It was different from anything I’ve experienced,” she says. “We watched kids with diabetes get to be normal kids, running around and having fun, but also learning about how to manage their conditions and stay healthy.