Abbott Achieves Significant Diabetes Outcomes Pairing Healthy Food Rx with Community Health Worker Coaching

A six-month study presented at the American Diabetes Association's 86th Scientific Sessions positions Abbott's Healthy Food Rx program as a measurable intervention in diabetes self-management, with findings that carry direct implications for health system partners and nutrition-linked care protocols. The research, funded by Abbott Fund and conducted alongside the Public Health Institute Center for Wellness and Nutrition, APSARA, and the Emergency Food Bank of Stockton/San Joaquin, enrolled 284 adults living with type 2 diabetes across a community-based cohort.

Participants received biweekly home-delivered food boxes paired with community health worker coaching delivered in their preferred language. The combined intervention produced statistically notable shifts across multiple clinical and behavioral markers. Glucose self-monitoring compliance rose from 28% to 62%, and medication adherence climbed from 57% to 94% over the program period. Daily vegetable intake doubled, from 1.2 to 2.4 servings, and exercise frequency increased from 2.8 to 4.4 sessions per week lasting ten minutes or more.

Self-reported physical health outcomes shifted substantially: participants rating their physical health as good, very good, or excellent increased from 21% to 77%, while the equivalent mental health measure moved from 34% to 88%. Food insecurity among participants decreased from 91% to 76%, a reduction that underscores the program's relevance to social determinants frameworks increasingly referenced in value-based care contracting.

For health system and public health program leads, the study's design offers a replicable model: structured food access combined with culturally responsive coaching, rather than either element in isolation. The APSARA component specifically addressed language and cultural barriers that frequently limit chronic disease program adherence in underserved populations. Maggie Wilkin, director of research and evaluation at PHI CWN, noted that pairing healthy food access with patient-centered coaching produced measurable improvements in both physical and mental health outcomes.

The findings add to a growing evidence base for Food is Medicine as a structured care adjunct, with implications for payers, integrated delivery networks, and public health agencies evaluating community health worker program investments. Abbott's data point toward medication adherence and glucose monitoring as the metrics most responsive to the combined intervention, which may inform how similar programs are structured and measured in future pilots.

The study's six-month endpoint leaves open the question of whether adherence and dietary gains are sustained beyond the active program period, a variable that will likely shape how health system partners evaluate long-term program investment.

Source: Abbott MediaRoom via PR Newswire, June 8, 2026.