5 Eastern Ky. health departments create collaborative to address chronic disease in region
Five Eastern Kentucky health departments have partnered in an initiative to fight chronic disease in the region, largely through preventive health care, shared resources and information sharing.
Public health directors from Floyd, Johnson, Magoffin, Martin and Pike counties launched the Mountain Wellness Collaborative at the Martin County Health Department on Wednesday, May 20.
“Chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity and hypertension continue to impact families and communities across the region. By joining forces, the five health departments aim to strengthen prevention efforts, improve health education, increase access to community resources, and create long-term strategies that support healthier lifestyles and better outcomes for residents,” according to a news release.
“Public health directors from some of the five participating counties told the Herald-Leader they’ve been meeting informally for at least three years. Now, they say they want to formalize that partnership to aid each other in accessing federal preventive medicine grant funding,” Austin R. Ramsey reports.
The collaboration is much needed in the region, which state data shows suffers from some of the highest rates of heart disease, chronic respiratory disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity in the state.