September 28, 2015

ACL Funds Chronic Disease Self-Management Education Programs

Recently, AoA awarded a new round of two-year grants to eight grantees for chronic disease self-management education (CDSME) programs.

These programs provide older adults and adults with disabilities with education and tools to help them better manage chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, HIV/AIDS and depression.

The recipients of this round of CDSME grants are:

• Health Foundation of South Florida, Miami, FL
• AgeOptions, Inc,  Oak Park, IL
• MAC Incorporated, Salisbury, MD
• Mississippi State Department of Health, Jackson, MS
• University of North Carolina at Asheville, Asheville, NC 
• Health Promotion Council of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Inc., Philadelphia, PA
• South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD
• Community Council of Greater Dallas, Dallas, TX

Through these grants, ACL aims to:

• Reach about 35,000 older adults and adults with disabilities in underserved areas and populations who participate in evidence-based self-management programs to empower them to better manage their chronic conditions;
• Expand the types of evidence-based programs that we currently support to include HomeMeds (medication management), PEARLS (depression management), and EnhanceWellness (self-management); and
• Implement innovative funding arrangements (e.g., contracts with integrated health care systems) to support the CDSME programs beyond the grant period, while embedding the programs into an integrated, sustainable, evidence-based prevention program network.

AoA funding has supported nearly 250,000 participants since 2010 and about281,000 participants since 2006. Nearly 60% of the participants reported having more than one chronic condition, and 46% of participants report having a disability. These programs are financed by 2015 Public Health Prevention Fund, made possible by the Affordable Care Act.

Learn more about CDSME programs on ACL’s website.