The office, which is part of HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration, implemented the three-year initiative to help local healthcare providers develop programs that target such chronic conditions as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity.
Valerie Darden, coordinator of the grant program, said the types of programs grant recipients have implemented include school-based initiatives that focus mostly on childhood obesity prevention; case management of chronic diseases and the integration of primary care into mental health; and community-based programs that involve education campaigns.
“The grant program focuses on diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease because all of those have a much higher prevalence than they do in the general U.S. population,” Darden said. “They're really at epidemic proportions in the delta.”
Grant amounts ranged between $324,969 and $524,839 for the area health providers. Darden said the grants are intended to encourage the formation of networks of care able to provide help to rural communities spanning several counties within each state.
According to data from the CDC, residents of the delta region had higher rates of obesity, high blood pressure and smoking than the national average, and ranked lower in terms of the frequency in which residents ate fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as the amount of time they engaged in physical activity.
In addition to the Office of Rural Health Policy grants, the Delta Regional Authority, a federal-state partnership focused on improving the region's economy, has awarded $800,000 to five Office of Rural Health Policy grant recipients for the purpose of implementing healthy activities in the workplace.
“We recognize the correlation between having a healthy workforce and having a strong economy and being able to really grow your economic development efforts,” said Delta Regional Authority Federal Co-Chairman Chris Masingill, whose agency has provided the supplemental funds as part of its Healthy Workforce Challenge. “There is a direct tie-in to the impact that health and healthcare costs have on our businesses and industries from small businesses to big businesses—you can not have a healthy workforce without a healthy community.”
Community health organizations in Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana and Missouri have been awarded the additional Delta Regional Authority grants, according to Masingill, who said the funding went toward supporting existing programs.
The program being run by the Tombigbee Healthcare Authority, which serves four counties in Alabama, will focus on promoting better health among its area's healthcare workers.
In Arkansas, Masingill said the focus will be healthier eating as community health provider ARcare implements its “Eat Better, Live More” campaign within some of the largest employers in that area. Other campaigns include ones in southern Illinois and Louisiana that promote general wellness, as well as one that targets smoking cessation among small businesses in southern counties of Missouri.
Follow Steven Ross Johnson on Twitter: @MHsjohnson
