McKesson Foundation Launches Mobilizing for Health(sm)

(3BLMedia/theCSRfeed) San Francisco, CA – July 27, 2010 – The McKesson Foundation today announces Mobilizing for Health^sm, an initiative which will play a critical role in disseminating knowledge and understanding of mobile health (mHealth), with its first area of focus spotlighting the growing diabetes epidemic in the United States among low income and minority populations. 

At the core of the initiative is the Mobilizing for Health^sm grant program that will fund U.S. based pilot research projects and ongoing studies in need of additional funding focused on mobile phone-based interventions for low-income patients with chronic diseases. The first grant program aims to build the evidence base for using mobile phones to improve chronic disease management in the nation’s healthcare system. 

Interested applicants have until August 13, 2010 to submit a Letter of Intent and can do so via the grant program’s web site. As part of the Mobilizing for Health^sm program, the McKesson Foundation will seek to unearth effective mHealth technologies and advocate for policies and practices that enable the adoption of scalable mHealth interventions as a component of chronic care management for under-served populations.

“Through the Mobilizing for Health^sm initiative, our ultimate goal is to improve health outcomes among under-served patients with chronic diseases through widespread adoption of mHealth interventions that have proven successful,” said Carrie Varoquiers, President of the McKesson Foundation. “This marks an important step for the McKesson Foundation in our continuing effort to increase access to affordable, high-quality healthcare.   The McKesson Foundation has pledged to put diabetes at the forefront of the first installment of funded mHealth projects. Diabetes continues to pose a serious risk to Americans, as the American Diabetes Association estimates 23.6 million Americans and another 57 million are likely to get the disease if they don’t alter their living habits. Low-income and minority populations disproportionately suffer from diabetes and diabetes-related complications.   Background: McKesson Foundation Vision and Mission Founded in 1943, the McKesson Foundation envisions a world where affordable, quality healthcare is available to all. The Foundation is dedicated to supporting McKesson employees' community involvement efforts and improving the health of patients through improved healthcare quality, personal health management, and lower healthcare costs. To that end, each year the McKesson Foundation contributes more than $5 million to nonprofit organizations working in our communities. Beginning in 2009, the Foundation’s funding area has been chronic disease management in the U.S., with a near-term focus on diabetes. The Mobilizing for Health^sm initiative complements the Foundation’s continued support of diabetes management programs at community health centers.   Press Contact: Tom Suiter tom@grow-marketing.com

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