Wayne State University researchers and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services have received federal funding to take part in a widespread initiative to test and evaluate new approaches to address heart disease and diabetes.
They are among 28 state and local health departments across the U.S. that were awarded funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to design, test, and evaluate new approaches to address diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and obesity. In 2016, nearly 60,000 adults in Michigan died due to these conditions, and more than 67.2 percent of Michigan adults are diagnosed with them.
The award to the health department from the CDC totals more than $5 million. WSU anticipates receiving more than $1.5 million over the course of the five-year project.
“The ultimate goal of this project is to improve the health of our local communities, particularly in areas where residents are at risk for developing complications such as heart disease,” says
says Dr. Phillip Levy, a medical doctor, professor, and associate chair for research in the Wayne State department of emergency medicine. “To achieve this, we are piloting a program called Bring it Down, which will utilize community health workers as a conduit to link patients to accessible primary care providers.”
Levy and his team also will explore and test ways to promote the adoption of evidence-based quality measurements at the health-care-provider level.
