Engaging the Community, Providing Health Care for All
Ferris’ College of Pharmacy strengthens prevention and detection efforts for diabetes, hypertension and obesity
By Katelyn Crain
Communications Specialist
Youngsters gather in a waiting area at a health screening event sponsored by the Coordinated Health Impact Alliance at Grand Rapids’ Hillcrest Baptist Church on Aug. 31, 2016.
Ferris State University’s College of Pharmacy is one partner of many that have formed the Coordinated Health Impact Alliance (CHIA) in West Michigan, developed to strengthen the prevention and detection of diabetes, hypertension and obesity in Kent County.
Led by the YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids, CHIA is focused on using environmental and systems approaches to promote and reinforce healthful behaviors. Some of the group’s efforts include offering healthier options at corner stores, improving walking trails, implementing diabetes prevention classes, and identifying undiagnosed patients with hypertension and prediabetes in clinical settings.
While the general population of Kent County will benefit from these efforts, the focus is on the residents of Grand Rapids’ Hope Zone neighborhoods, or underserved, high-risk areas. Ferris’ role in the alliance is to provide health outreach and education to those communities, particularly because there are not pharmacies located within the Kent County Hope Zones.
“We want to provide resources and talk with persons about blood pressure, healthy eating and to look into their risk for diabetes. We take blood pressures, we educate them, we talk about medications that persons are taking, and we do it in areas that are of high-risk,” said Susan Devuyst-Miller, College of Pharmacy assistant professor and project leader for Ferris’ efforts in the initiative. “Not only are we changing lives in the community, but we are changing the lives of our pharmacy students and really improving opportunities for them, making a difference and helping them make a difference, and it’s contagious. It’s a win-win for me, as a faculty member as well as a health care provider. It’s engaging young people and providing health care for all.”
This four-year project, funded by a $1.6 million grant from the Michigan Department of Community Health and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, is one of four projects in Michigan receiving funding for this cause. It’s currently in its third year.
“As part of CHIA, Ferris State University pharmacy students help implement programs that empower hypertensive patients to take control of their condition, provide needed hypertension medication expertise in team-based care, and identify people with undiagnosed hypertension and prediabetes,” said Jennifer Eisner, public information officer at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. “Addressing chronic disease in Kent County is crucial. In fact, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease continue to be the top causes of death in Kent County. Ferris State’s participation in CHIA will ensure that communities in need like the Hope Zones have access to prevention services that equip them with skills and resources to reach positive health outcomes.”
Other partners in the consortium include the Kent County Health Department, Cherry Health, Spectrum Health Healthier Communities Department, Priority Health, and the Heart of West Michigan United Way’s 2-1-1, among others.
“This is a great example of how our strong partnerships can make a significant impact on our community,” said Thomas Dowling, assistant dean, College of Pharmacy. “As one of only four projects funded in the State, we are very proud of the role that Ferris’ College of Pharmacy faculty and students are playing in its success.”
Alissa Johnson, a 2017 graduate of Ferris’ Pharmacy program, provides a health screening consultation to a participant at the CHIA event at Hillcrest Baptist Church in Grand Rapids on Aug. 31, 2016.