HHCC to pursue national, competitive health grant

BY BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

Healthy Henry County Communities (HHCC) has moved to pursue a grant, which if received, will be a major feat for the organization.

The grant, which the board agreed to pursue during their Tuesday meeting, is a federal grant open nationwide to rural community health non-profit organizations. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant is awarded to only 30 entities, which makes it a very competitive grant.

After much research, Michelle Rosell, HCHC COO, and Kelly Carr, HHCC coordinator, have decided to apply for the grant using the Center for Disease Control?s (CDC) 6:18 Initiative. The initiative aligns six evidence-based preventative practices with 18 emerging value-based payment and delivery models. The preventative practices include reducing tobacco use, controlling high blood pressure, controlling asthma, preventing healthcare-associated infections, preventing unintended pregnancy, and controlling and preventing diabetes.

?What the CDC is saying is that communities who address these six categories will have the biggest impact on the health of a community at relatively low cost,? Rosell explained to the board, saying HHCC already works to do most of the six preventative practices, and have had success doing so in Henry County. ?Being that this is a CDC, evidence-based initiative, I feel this is a good initiative to use when applying for this grant.?

?Of course, this initiative is not intended for organizations to implement all six practices in one year. We would plan to spread them out over a multi-year period,? Rosell explained. ?We just have to show within the grant how we are and how we would continue to make a positive impact in these areas.?

The grant application is due by Nov. 28, 2016.

Moving on to other matters, the board heard from Boy Scout Parker Baugh, of Boy Scout Troop 27, who presented his summary of a geocaching project he completed for the HHCC board. A project Baugh has been working on for some time, the soon to be Eagle Scout has been working to further HHCC?s intentions of adding more geocaches in the Henry County area in an effort to promote active living and county park use.

Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity in which participants use a GPS to hide and hunt for containers called ?geocaches? at specific locations marked by coordinates all over the world. Thanks to Baugh, there are now 10 to 12 additional geocaches in Henry County, bringing the total geocaches in Henry County to 40.

?After speaking with Kelly (Carr), I made it a goal to place at least one geocache in every community in Henry County, specifically communities in Henry County that didn?t already have one,? Baugh said. ?I also decided to make sure that I got permission to place a geocache in a community prior to doing it, which is what took the most time in completing this project.?

Using the official geocaching website, Carr will be able to track how many people are actively finding and logging these newly placed geocaches. According to her, several of Baugh?s caches have already been found by users, which she insists is a good sign that the program is serving its purpose.

Upon hearing from Baugh, the board applauded his efforts and thanked him for taking on the task on behalf of HHCC.

In other news, the board:

? Reported that roughly 430 people attended the 2016 Healthy Halloween Walk, which is comparable to last year?s numbers.

? Approved a contract renewal with SEIBUS.

? Reminded board members of the upcoming Boot Camp for New Dads on Nov. 12, from 9 a.m. to noon.

The next HHCC board meeting will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 6, at 1 p.m., in the HCHC Health Education Center.