Mobile Diabetes Education Center (MOBEC)

The Mobile Diabetes Education Center (MOBEC) is a community-based outreach program developed by Touro University California's DREAM Team to expand diabetes detection, education, and preventive intervention in Solano County, California. MOBEC was created in response to high local rates of diabetes risk factors, diabetes-related complications, and suboptimal access to preventive care and screenings. The program launched after the team secured a 65-foot trailer at reduced cost and received seed funding from Sutter Health in 2017.

MOBEC operates through strong community partnerships that include Sutter Health, the California Department of Public Health, Kaiser Permanente, the Solano County Department of Public Health, and a range of community-based organizations, and it focuses on increasing health equity among at-risk populations. MOBEC's initial rollout involved a seven-city tour across Solano County to introduce services, conduct a community needs assessment, and prioritize strategies for screening and education tailored to local preferences and barriers. The needs assessment gathered information on community demographics, living situations, tobacco use, physical activity, preferred services, and optimal timing and methods for outreach and education.

These findings informed the selection and adaptation of services offered by MOBEC to meet specific community needs. The program emphasizes early detection of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes through risk-based screening consistent with evidence-based recommendations, with a goal of connecting high-risk individuals to interventions such as the CDC's National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP) PreventT2 curriculum. MOBEC addresses key structural and social determinants of health that impede timely screening and care—factors that have been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic and include limited access to care, distrust of health systems, language barriers, economic constraints, and lack of insurance. By bringing screenings, education, and referral resources directly into communities, MOBEC has helped raise awareness of diabetes, improve access to A1C and other screenings, and provide culturally informed education and linkage to preventive services.

The program's collaborative model, rooted in community advisory input and partnerships with public health agencies and health systems, offers a replicable blueprint for reaching medically underserved populations and reducing inequities in diabetes detection and prevention. MOBEC's initial successes demonstrate the potential impact of mobile, community-centered strategies for early detection, education, and connection to evidence-based prevention programs, with applicability to other regions seeking to address undiagnosed diabetes and improve population health outcomes.