CVS/pharmacy's Project Health highlights National Minority Health Month with free screenings
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS/pharmacy officially announced on Wednesday the April schedule of Project Health (Proyecto Salud in Spanish), a wellness program delivering more than $21 million worth of free health screenings to multicultural communities throughout 2012.
As part of National Minority Health Month, CVS/pharmacy will offer free health screenings at select stores in African-American and Latino communities in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
"Access to preventive care is one way we help the communities we serve," said Troyen Brennan, EVP and chief medical officer of CVS Caremark. "We know chronic conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes are a tremendous burden on multicultural communities and detecting these issues is a very important first step on a person's path to better health."
The program, which aims to prevent disease through early detection, grew from CVS/pharmacy's To Your Health/A Su Salud campaigns. This year, Project Health will offer an array of free comprehensive health risk assessments and screenings during disease-specific national health awareness months. More than 1,000 Project Health events are scheduled for 2012.
Project Health is a part of efforts by CVS/pharmacy to improve access to preventive care and ensure that cost is not a barrier to such services as professional health assessments and screenings. Project Health events, while offered to address and raise awareness of ethnic health disparities, are open to everyone and will not require an appointment.
Medical personnel will be on hand to provide diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol and body mass index screenings. Referrals will also be provided as well as consultations with nurse practitioners and CVS pharmacists. A selection of screenings will be available at each event.
Once screened, CVS/pharmacy will help patients through on-site consultations with bilingual (Spanish/English) nurse practitioners or physician assistants who will analyze the results and refer patients to no-cost or low-cost medical facilities within that neighborhood or to their primary care physician should additional follow-up be required.
In 2011, CVS/pharmacy provided free and low-cost medical screenings and services valued at $150 per person through the To Your Health/A Su Salud programs. More than 162,000 people were screened during last year's events. Of the individuals screened, many health concerns were discovered, including:
57% had at least one abnormal screening result;
48% had at least one abnormal risk factor for heart disease;
42% had risk factors for osteoporosis; and
27% had abnormal glucose readings.
The Project Health events will be held at designated CVS/pharmacy locations on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays during the month of April from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. with no appointment necessary. Future campaign months include Immunization Awareness Month (August), Dental Hygiene Awareness Month (October) and Diabetes Awareness Month (November).
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