ATSU sponsors chronic disease prevention and care summit

Eleven counties represented at regional meeting in Kirksville

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. (Apr. 11, 2006 ) – Worried about diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, or a plethora of other chronic conditions? Organizations exist all over the state of Missouri to help educate people on how to avoid and live with these types of conditions.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has developed a way to efficiently network these organizations, called the Monarch Project. The project will consolidate local chronic prevention and care organizations into a statewide network, as well as create a system where the patient is an informed, active participant in the prevention and treatment process.

A wide variety of healthcare providers and health agencies from 11 counties in northeast Missouri met in Kirksville on April 10 for the third of seven planned meetings to address the need for comprehensive chronic disease prevention and care services. The meeting was sponsored by Healthy for Life and the Northeast Missouri Regional Arthritis Center, two grant-funded programs of A.T. Still University.

One potential approach under the Monarch Project would establish a network of regional centers dedicated to improving efforts to prevent and treat chronic conditions. Additional approaches include ensuring that the maximum number of people are being served by existing chronic care centers, that service providers are awarded based on achievement, and that the patient is an involved participant in the prevention and care process. The project will place an emphasis on education, including such leading risk factors as tobacco use, lack of physical activity, and inadequate diet/nutrition.

For more information about the Monarch Project, visit www.monarchproject.info.