Diabetes-What could we do as healthcare professionals?

As a pharmacist in training, I'm doing rotations and I work in the retail setting at the moment.  The biggest thing I wonder is 'how can we as healthcare professionals help such a terrible disease?'  I honestly feel like we're still trying to learn bits and pieces about diabetes, from which A1c is good to how can we prevent patients from having cardiovascular events?  A series of questions go into diabetes. 

I ponder a little bit on it today of what can we do as a preventative measure.  I wonder if patients had programs easily accessible to them, would they use it?  I currently live in a state right now in which patients have a hard time giving up foods that's native to the area.  Not to mention that healthcare isn't as easily accessible to them and literacy isn't all the best.  Could pharmacy (since it is an easily accessible healthcare profession) be a place to where programs on diet (possibly exercise too) could be implemented to help people become aware of what they are eating?

Second question, how can we get these programs going?

Last question is, if we do set up these programs, how can we continue and let it grow to make it to the best kind of program it could be.

Thoughts?