Elder Care West               866.847.4490         866.847.4490

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recently announced the availability of $27 million to help older individuals with chronic conditions to improve their health and reduce their use of costly medical care.These funds are made possible through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which has provided up to $650 million to HHS for the Communities Putting Prevention to Work initiative launched earlier this fall to promote evidence-based prevention strategies in communities and states across the country.  The initiative provides every state Aging and Health Department and U.S. territory the opportunity to implement rigorously tested Chronic Disease Self-Management Programs (CDSMP).  The CDSMP is a six-week peer-led training program that covers topics such as healthy eating, exercise, managing fatigue and depression, and communicating effectively with health care professionals.  While further research is underway, rigorous evaluations have suggested that the program improves participants’ overall health and energy levels and result in savings to Medicare through fewer hospital stays. CDSMP are specifically designed to be delivered by non-health professionals in community settings, such as senior centers, congregate meal programs, faith-based organizations and senior housing projects.