The Georgia Healthy Family Alliance (GHFA) awarded six Community Health Grant Award applicants $29,625 in third cycle 2018 grants. Grant awards were made to GAFP member affiliated charitable organizations that support GHFA program priorities including underserved populations and outreach programs that promote healthy practices consistent with the principles of Family Medicine. Since 2012, the Community Health Grant Program has awarded more than $222,000 in support of more than 50 GAFP member sponsored healthcare projects throughout Georgia that enhance the well-being of our communities. With the help of a matching gift from Jackson Healthcare, GHFA doubled the number of community health grants awarded in 2018.
Visit www.georgiahealthyfamilyalliance.org/grants/ for more information on the community health grant program or email questions to ksinkule@gafp.org. The 2019 application will be available online in November and the submission deadline for first cycle grants is February 1, 2019.
- “Healthy Students of Cook County Schools” $4625 Sponsored by: Thomas Fausett, MD- Adel
The goal of this project is to update medical supplies and equipment for the four schools in Cook County Georgia including: Cook Primary School, Cook Elementary School, Cook Middle School, and Cook High School. The nursing budgets for these schools are limited; therefore, the ability to acquire new equipment is limited. Much of the equipment is out of date and non-functioning. There continues to be increased need for medical supplies, especially more expensive items such as pulse oximeters and audiometers. The grant would provide supplies to the four schools as recommended by the nursing staff at each school, as well as recommendations from Thomas D. Fausett, Jr., M.D and Jairaj Goberdhan, M.D., two Family Physicians practicing in Cook County. The two physicians will oversee the project and administer the project, addressing the requests and recommendations offered from each school.
- “Diabetes Prevention and Management Project – Good News Clinic” $5000 Sponsored by: David Westfall, MD- Gainesville
Good News Clinic (GNC) provides comprehensive healthcare for more than 3,500 patients annually who could not afford it otherwise. GNC remains a volunteer-based clinic and is currently served by 46 volunteer physicians, 9 mid-level providers, 43 volunteer dentist and other clinical and community volunteers. One of GNC’s heaviest areas of focus is diagnosis and treatment of diabetes. Out of the 3,500 patients treated annually, approximately 440 are diabetic. Due to the indigent status of these patients, buying blood glucose test strips is often unaffordable, leaving the patient without a valuable tool in effectively managing their disease.
GNC’s practitioners find that providing the test strips improves compliance in testing blood glucose levels which, in turn, helps patients to achieve their goal of controlling A1C. This project will provide funding for diabetic supplies, provide regular diabetes education classes to enhance compliance with medical regime and allow our registered dietitian to provide one on one counseling to enhance diet control.
- “Harriett Tubman Clinic’s Expanding Contraception Choice for Refugee Women Project” $5,000 Sponsored by: Angeline Ti, MD- Clarkston
Since moving to Clarkston in 2016, the Harriet Tubman Women’s Clinic (HTWC) has seen a dramatic increase in patient volume. From October 2017 through March 2018, it served 223 women, providing 76 cervical cancer screenings, testing 52 women for sexually transmitted infections and providing treatment as necessary, and dispensing contraception to 48 women. Each woman who comes through HTWC has her financial eligibility assessed by a trained member of the Georgia Volunteer Healthcare Program and must be uninsured for the care she is seeking. Therefore, through the services offered at HTWC, this particularly vulnerable cohort of women can access care which they could not otherwise. With a large proportion of refugees being young families, HTWC is faced with a growing demand for contraceptive options. Recent research has demonstrated that when barriers to contraception are removed, the use of more effective contraceptive methods increases, and rates of unintended pregnancy decrease. Using funds from this grant, HTWC plans on supplementing their current supply of oral contraceptives by stocking a variety of LARC methods and Depo Provera.
- “Eat, Play, Learn- Floyd Residency” $5000 Sponsored by: Pamela Obi, MD- Rome
The Eat, Play, Learn project targets children ages 6-14 who have sought care at the Floyd Family Medicine Residency Clinic and who are considered overweight or obese by standard criteria of a BMI greater or equal to the 85th percentile. The clinic serves a large Hispanic population, most of which are considered low-income households. Lack of education, transportation, and financial resources negatively impact healthy diets and exercise. Lack of knowledge about the importance of exercise and healthy eating perpetuates obesity among this population and leads to significant comorbidities including hypertension, mood disorders and diabetes. This project hopes to address issues that perpetuate obesity by providing an avenue for at-risk children and their families to learn about healthy dietary options, participate in age-appropriate physical activities that meet CDC guidelines, and provide resources for families to purchase healthy, fresh foods.
- “NE GA Medical Center’s Decreasing Death Rates from Lung Cancer Through Early Detection Project,” $5000 Sponsor: Monica Newton, DO– Barrow County
Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s Community Health Needs Assessment identified lung cancer in Barrow County as one of its top health priorities. Patients in Barrow county are twice as likely to die of lung cancer than those patients in neighboring Gwinnett county.
This project seeks to reduce initiation of tobacco use by partnering with the local school system to implement Tar Wars to all 4th and 5th graders throughout Barrow County. In addition, to achieve the goal of decreasing lung cancer death in this high risk county, improving awareness and access to early detection of lung cancer though low dose CT scans is needed. Developing a public awareness campaign throughout the county, providing in kind technical fees, and matching dollar for dollar the grant funds to pay for radiologist costs for those that are indigent are of vital importance. This program will increase visibility of needed screening and assist those without insurance coverage so that they can get proactive screening which can prolong someone’s life or even cure if recognized at a very early stage. Project plans to reach 25 individuals through this targeted, collaborative outreach.
- “ Emory DASH To Eat Better Project” $5,000 Sponsor: Michael Ly, MD -Atlanta
School-aged children consume an average of 1,000 milligrams more sodium a day than is recommended by the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Studies that examine childhood blood pressure tracking have found that children at a higher risk of developing hypertension maintain their elevated risk status throughout their childhood and into adulthood. By establishing healthy eating habits in adolescence, children who follow a DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) type diet significantly reduce their risk of developing chronic diseases in adulthood. This project will educate middle school aged children and their families on strategies to make healthier snack food choices and avoid processed foods with the goal of bringing their overall sodium consumption closer to the recommended 2300 mg/day and lower their risk of developing hypertension related chronic diseases later in life.
The Alliance is the philanthropic arm of the Georgia Academy of Family Physicians. Our nationally recognized Community Health Grant Program exists to support and create momentum in an area of need and provide vital funds for family physician sponsored healthcare projects across Georgia.