Microclinic International to promote healthier living in the Cumberland Valley Region

Microclinic International was awarded a major CDC grant to promote healthier living and combat chronic disease in the Cumberland Valley Region in Appalachian Kentucky.

This grant is a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS's) Community Transformation Grants (CTG) to support public health efforts to reduce chronic diseases, promote healthier lifestyles, reduce health disparities, and control health care spending in small communities.

By focusing on where people live, work, learn, and play, the CTG program is expected to improve the health of more than four out of 10 U.S. citizens—about 130 million Americans. 

Overall, HHS awarded approximately $70 million in prevention grants to 40 awardees focused on improving the health of small communities across the nation. Administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the CTG Program is a comprehensive prevention and wellness initiative launched in 2011 and funded through the Affordable Care Act's Prevention and Public Health Fund. These new funds will support areas with fewer than 500,000 people in neighborhoods, school districts, villages, towns, cities, and counties. Awardees represent organizations committed to improving health from a multitude of sectors.

"Unhealthy behaviors driving chronic disease epidemics threaten to undermine economic progress in the United States," said Microclinic International's Founder and CEO Dr. Daniel Zoughbie .  "We are not simply addressing the symptoms of this trillion-dollar problem – with our partners in Southeastern Kentucky, we are working to prevent the problem in the first place by making healthy behaviors contagious." 

Support from the business community, school districts, community-based organizations, and other non-traditional partners is critical to reducing deaths and health costs due to heart attacks, strokes, cancer, diabetes, and other serious health problems.

Awardees will conduct activities in one or more areas that contribute to the overall goals of the CTG program and help achieve positive changes in one or more of the following outcome measures: 1) weight, 2) proper nutrition, 3) physical activity, 4) tobacco use, and 5) social and emotional well-being.

Microclinic International will lead a comprehensive initiative in collaboration with district and county health departments as well as other community partners to tackle diabetes, obesity, and heart disease for communities in the Cumberland Valley Region.  "The cost of managing chronic diseases in the Cumberland Valley Region is astronomical and growing," said Lynnett Renner , Director of the Cumberland Valley District Health Department.  "In the United States, chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are the leading causes of death, disability, and health care costs, accounting for 70% of all deaths each year and 75% of the $2.5 trillion spent annually on health care. Although chronic diseases are among the most common and costly health problems in the country, they are also among the most preventable."

The Community Transformation Grants are one piece of a broader effort by the Obama Administration to address the health and well-being of U.S. communities through initiatives such as the President's Childhood Obesity Task Force, the First Lady's Let's Move! campaign, the National Prevention Strategy, the National Quality Strategy, and HHS' Million Hearts™ initiative. The Prevention and Public Health Fund, as part of the Affordable Care Act, is supporting the CTG program and other initiatives designed to expand and sustain the necessary capacity to prevent chronic diseases, detect them early, manage conditions before they become severe, and provide states and communities the resources they need to promote healthy living.