Health Promotion As a Local Community Cause

On this blog I have said it many times how critical are the behavior change incentives for creating meaningful wellness and prevention programs.

Recently I had a chance to learn up close about a very interesting program that demonstrates how to create this kind of enticement for children. I am talking about Healthy Hoops, which was designed to reduce asthma problems amongst urban school children.

Designed by AmeriHealth Mercy, known for Medicaid Managed Care plans, Healthy Hoops uses basketball to get kids engaged in asthma education. How do they do it? By bringing together schools, star coaches and health educators. The result are events held at schools that combine basketball practice with preventive screening. While the kids come to play and have fun, they leave with solid knowledge of the health risks of asthma. If they are found to be affected with the condition, they get specific directions for getting it under control.

The key to program success is putting the "fun" into health and working with local communities to create real support structure for kids and their families.

AmeriHealth found that this basketball-led intervention not only improves kids' health but also significantly reduces the overall costs of their healthcare. Asthma can be expensive and getting it detected and taken under control early can save both lives and money.

Now the program is being marketed to community groups and health plans across the nation with the idea that this disease management innovation can be replicated anywhere, not just in AmeriHealth member plans. According to Healthy Hoops information materials:

What Healthy Hoops Can Do For Your Members?

• Improve health outcomes
• Improve quality of life
• Enhance communication between member and PCP
• Empower families to take charge of their health care
• Provide individualized health education and screenings
• Increase member satisfaction

What Healthy Hoops Can Do For Your Organization

• Increase member enrollment, retention and loyalty
• Reduce health care costs and utilization 
• Add value to the benefits and services that you provide 
• Position your organization as a leader in addressing health disparities
• Promote your company within the community
• Enhance your company's branding

This is an excellent example of how innovations in disease prevention can be incubated in one place and get turned into marketable programs promoted nationally through local community groups. That is while relying on more than admonishment and preaching to get people pay attention to their health.

Projects like this offer real hope for finding real solutions to US Healthcare crisis.