Other Georgia organizations that were recipients of Aetna grants and-or sponsorships included The King Center; The Greater Atlanta Economic Alliance; The National Black College Hall of Fame; Georgia West Mental Health Foundation; CHOICES (Center Helping Obesity In Children End Successfully); and The Center for Health Care Transformation Foundation.
Aetna also sponsored the Atlanta Football Classic weekend, funding a panel discussion on the dangers of childhood obesity, particularly among African-American children.
"Georgia is a state that matters a great deal to Aetna," said Cynthia Follmer, head of Aetna’s Georgia markets. "As a company with a significant customer and employee presence in the state, we’re committed to using our resources to promote awareness and improve health outcomes for Georgians."
Aetna awarded $75,000 to the American Diabetes Association to help fund programs aimed at decreasing obesity and increasing diabetes awareness and improved results in Atlanta’s African American community. One of those was "Project Power." The program includes "diabetes days," during which preachers at 15 large African American churches are asked to speak from the pulpit about early diagnosis and managing diabetes. It also features a one-day educational program for more than 600 residents, taught by African American health care professionals.
Aetna awarded Wellstar a $50,000 grant to support "Be Well 101" a program focused on helping children and adolescents who have been diagnosed with obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, insulin resistance and-or diabetes. The program incorporates a multidisciplinary approach to education and intervention and promotes lifestyle changes to reduce risk factors. It incorporates exercise, health and disease education, nutrition education and psychosocial fitness, engaging both youths and their family members in a comprehensive approach.
The 100 Black Men of Atlanta (BMOA) received a $50,000 grant to help address health disparities in the African American community. Partnering with the National Center for Primary Care at Morehouse School of Medicine, the BMOA created community health fairs, which provided health and wellness education to students from the Atlanta public school system and their families. One fair, called "Celebrate Health, Celebrate Living," was held as part of the Atlanta Football Classic weekend. Aetna’s grant also helped fund other BMOA activities throughout the year.
Aetna awarded a $50,000 grant to the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation to help support "Children’s TIPPs," an after-school program of individualized nutrition and physical activity sessions for overweight children ages 10 to 18 with two or more risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Children are referred by their physicians. TIPPs was successfully implemented in Children’s Healthcare facilities in DeKalb, Gwinnett and Cobb counties, and the foundation expanded the program’s reach by offering it at an Atlanta YMCA facility.
The Metropolitan Atlanta chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women received a $50,000 grant to help fund health fairs and community forums that keep women and children informed about illnesses disproportionately affecting African American women. These included programs on HIV/AIDS, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), breast cancer, hypertension and diabetes.
The Aetna Foundation is the independent charitable and philanthropic arm of Aetna Inc. Founded in 1972, the Foundation helps build healthy communities by promoting volunteerism, forming partnerships and funding initiatives that improve the quality of life where our employees and customers live and work.
Aetna is one of the nation’s leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 36.4 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans and government-sponsored plans. www.aetna.com