The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded $103 million in grants to 61 states and communities to help fight chronic disease, the leading cause of death in Americans.
“Good health begins at home and in our own communities. The Affordable Care Act is empowering Americans across the country to truly transform their communities by investing in programs that make us all healthier,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in a statement. “These grants will offer communities the opportunity to both improve Americans’ health and control healthcare spending by avoiding costly, chronic diseases in the first place.”
[See also: HHS announces $250M investment to promote public health and wellness]
Chronic diseases are responsible for 75 percent of healthcare costs in the United States, according to HHS. The root causes of chronic disease are often related to economic, social and physical factors such as tobacco use or a lack of places to exercise.
The Community Transformation Grants, created by the Affordable Care Act, help states and communities tackle the root causes of chronic disease such as smoking, poor diet and lack of physical activity. Grantees will use these funds to transform where their residents live, work, play and go to school with the goal of helping them lead healthier lives.
All grantees will work to address the following priority areas: 1) tobacco-free living; 2) active living and healthy eating; and 3) quality clinical and other preventive services, specifically prevention and control of high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Grantees may also focus on creating healthy and safe environments and will have an additional focus on reducing health disparities since, in addition to lacking access to the healthcare they need, many lower–income Americans, racial and ethnic minorities and other underserved populations often have higher rates of disease.
Grantee activities include:
• Implementation – Thirty-five grantees will implement proven interventions to help improve health and wellness. Funding amounts range from $500,000 to $10 million depending on population size and scope of project.
• Capacity Building – Twenty-six grantees will work to build capacity by laying a solid foundation for sustainable community prevention efforts. Funding amounts range from $147,000 to $500,000 depending on population size and scope of project.
Awards are distributed among state and local government agencies, tribes and territories and non-profit organizations. Awards went to grantees in 36 states, including seven tribal organizations and one territory. These grants are expected to run for five years.