WILMINGTON, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation program, Connections for Cardiovascular HealthSM, today announced a grant of more than $152,000 to the Christiana Care Health System in Wilmington to create the Cardiovascular Outreach Prevention Program (C.O.P.P).
C.O.P.P is targeted towards underserved, low-income African-American teens and adult women. The goal of the program is to engage teens to increase both their knowledge and confidence in their ability to make healthy lifestyle changes, as well as to teach them skills to improve the heart health of their mother or another important adult female in their lives.
“Heart disease is not just a man’s disease. In fact, heart disease is also the number one killer of women, ending the lives of more than 300,000 American women each year,” said Dr. Michael Rosenthal, Chair of the Department of Family & Community Medicine at Christiana Care Health System. “The AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation’s generous gift empowers these families to make positive, healthy choices that will protect them from heart disease.”
C.O.P.P will enhance its existing health education programs, No Heart Left Behind (heart health education for teens and adult participants) and Camp FRESH (educate urban teens on healthy lifestyles). Nemours Health and Prevention Services will provide training for the new cognitive-behavioral component, COPE/TEEN (Creating Opportunities for Personal Empowerment/Thinking, Emotions, Exercise, Nutrition). COPE/TEEN provides health education and teaches cognitive-behavior skills to support adolescents' beliefs about their ability to perform healthy lifestyle behaviors. This program also has teens engage their mother or another adult female in their life to assist in improving her heart health.
“We must work to decrease the risk of and prevent cardiovascular disease in the United States, by providing resources to those in need,” said James W. Blasetto, M.D., MPH, chairman of the AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation. “Christiana Care Health System is providing an innovative program to improve cardiovascular health in the greater Wilmington community.”
Connections for Cardiovascular Health was launched in 2010 through a charitable contribution of $25 million from AstraZeneca. The program awards grants of $150,000 and up to US-based non-profit organizations that are doing innovative work in the field of cardiovascular health. The grant will be used to focus on screening initiatives that will identify patients with or at-risk of cardiovascular disease. Those individuals who do not have health insurance or are underinsured will be given the option of establishing a medical home.
Organizations can learn more and apply online for a Foundation grant at www.astrazeneca-us.com/foundation. Applications must be submitted online no later than 5:00 p.m. EST on March 15.
About Christiana Care Health System
Christiana Care Health System, headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, is one of the country’s largest health care providers, ranking 16th in the nation for hospital admissions.
Christiana Care is a major teaching hospital with two campuses and more than 240 Medical-Dental residents and fellows. Christiana Care is recognized as a regional center for excellence in cardiology, cancer and women’s health services. The system is home to Delaware’s only Level I trauma center, the only center of its kind between Philadelphia and Baltimore. Christiana Care also features a Level 3 neonatal intensive care unit, the only delivering hospital in the state to offer this level of care for newborns.
A not-for-profit, non-sectarian health system, Christiana Care includes two hospitals with more than 1,100 patient beds, a home health care service, preventive medicine, rehabilitation services, a network of primary care physicians and an extensive range of outpatient services.
With more than 10,400 employees, Christiana Care is the largest private employer in Delaware and the 10th largest employer in the Philadelphia region. In fiscal year 2011, Christiana Care had more than $2.1 billion in total patient revenue and provided the community with approximately $27.1 million in charity care (at cost).
The Christiana Care Center for Community Health in the Department of Family and Community Medicine has designed, implemented and administered youth specific programming throughout the state for more than 10 years. The center operates nine School-Based High School Health Centers providing easily accessible medical, mental health and nutrition services to students for over 15 years, serving over 8,500 students and providing almost 20,000 visits during the 2009-2010 school year.
About the AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation
Established in 1993, the AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation is a Delaware not-for-profit corporation and a 501(c)(3) entity organized for charitable purposes including to promote public awareness of healthcare issues, to promote public education of medical knowledge and to support or contribute to charitable and qualified exempt organizations consistent with its charitable purpose.
CONTACT:
AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation
Tony Jewell, 302-885-4594
or
Christiana Care Health System
Jay Moorhead, 302-327-3394
or
Hiran Ratnayake, 302-327-3327
KEYWORDS: United States North America Delaware Pennsylvania
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Women Health Cardiology Hospitals Teens Consumer African-American General Health
MEDIA:
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