Wearable Technology Is Transforming Diabetes Care in Indian Country

Your elders are already wearing CGMs — and the numbers prove it works.

Carolyn Fletcher Is Meeting Our Relatives Where They Are

Carolyn Fletcher, BSN, RN, CDCES, launched the Diabetes Clinic at Clinton Indian Health Center in January 2022 after seven years as a U.S. Army medic. At the April 9, 2026 SPTHB Tribal Public Health Conference, she presented a landmark before-and-after: a Native patient entering her clinic with a blood sugar average of 260 mg/dL — far above the optimal 70–180 mg/dL range — who now maintains a 170 mg/dL average through FreeStyle Libre CGM monitoring, collaborative medication adjustment, and culturally competent nutrition education rooted in Indigenous food tradition.

Health Literacy Is the Real Medicine

Standard A1C readings deliver only a 3-month blood sugar average — they cannot capture what happens at 3 AM or after a community feed. CGMs fill that gap, giving Native practitioners 24-hour glucose trend data that transforms care decisions in real time. One elder patient — a Native female in her 70s who had survived a stroke — kept three handwritten tracking notebooks and brought her A1C down to 6.1 with Fletcher’s support. 80-plus-year-old patients are walking into IHS lobbies with their AGP reports pulled up on their cell phones!

Culturally Tailored, Data-Driven Care for Indigenous Communities

Fletcher honors culture awareness at every step — working with patients who choose to wear CGMs during ceremonial fasting, incorporating whole traditional foods, and using the My Plate method to make portion guidance meaningful within the context of Native community meals, funerals, and feast gatherings. Elder peer mentorship anchors her program in Indigenous values: patients who have lived the success come to class and tell their own stories, creating the most powerful health literacy tool in Indian Country.

Ellsworth, a 100% Navajo-owned, ISBEE-certified Native owned small business, connects culturally competent clinicians with Indian Health Service facilities and tribal health programs serving Native populations nationwide. The work Carolyn Fletcher is doing at Clinton IHS is exactly the mission Ellsworth exists to support. If your facility needs dedicated medical staffing built for native health, contact Ellsworth today — Our Relatives are counting on it.