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Youth Asthma Management Program Uses Basketball To Reduce Hospitalizations, ER Visits

Healthy Hoops Program Helps Children and their Parents Learn to Control Asthma and Stay Active

December 4, 2007
Philadelphia, PA
– More than 200 children and their parents from Philadelphia and Chester recently participated in the Healthy Hoopssm Program’s 2007 Winter Challenge, held at the Healthplex® Sports Club in Springfield, PA.

Healthy Hoops is an innovative asthma management program that uses basketball as a platform to teach children with asthma and their families how to proactively manage the disease through proper nutrition, exercise, and medication use. The program serves disadvantaged children with asthma and their families.

Healthy Hoops was created in 2002 by Keystone Mercy Health Plan, and sponsored by AstraZeneca, in response to the growing problem of asthma in the Philadelphia area. The Healthy Hoops program has reached over 2,500 children and parents to date. Over the past four years, Healthy Hoops has achieved positive health outcomes for its participants, who receive ongoing monitoring.  Participants have shown an increase in the use of preventive medications, and a decrease in emergency room visits and hospitalizations, nocturnal awakenings, and the use of asthma rescue medication.

The Winter Challenge event included health assessments and hands-on asthma education for children ages 3-16 and their parents; basketball coaching sessions for the children from local coaches Sonny Hill, Speedy Morris, Brian Daly, and Bill Fox; and an interactive parent education session with a physician.  In addition to focusing on asthma management, the program targeted decreasing childhood obesity and increasing cardiovascular activity.  The Winter Challenge was the culmination of the 2007 Healthy Hoops program, which included several health education events and outreach activities, and provided hundreds of health screenings to participants throughout the Philadelphia area this year.    

“We are very proud of the Healthy Hoops Program and the way that it ties into our mission to build healthier communities,” said Michael Rashid, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Keystone Mercy Health Plan.  “What’s so exciting about this program is the way that it really reaches out to both parents and kids to help educate them about asthma and how to manage it.  Parents get a chance to learn from a doctor and from other parents how to better take care of their children, while the kids learn how to control their asthma in a context that is meaningful to them: getting to play a sport that they really enjoy.”

Healthy Hoops Background
Healthy Hoops was developed to bridge the racial disparity gap of children with asthma, the most common chronic disease among children, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.  According to a 2006 study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania, 26.7% of children in Southeastern Pennsylvania have asthma.  A disproportionate amount of these children are from underserved populations.  Philadelphia was recently found to be the second worst city in America for asthma sufferers to live, according to a report by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. 

The program is made possible by the Healthy Hoops Coalition, which is made up of local basketball coaches and health organizations, including Crozer-Keystone Health System.  Healthy Hoops has expanded nationally to Keystone Mercy's sister company, Select Health of South Carolina, Inc., and is currently expanding to other markets.

About Keystone Mercy Health Plan
Keystone Mercy Health Plan, a healthcare ministry of the Sisters of Mercy in affiliation with Keystone First, Inc., is the largest Medical Assistance managed care organization in Pennsylvania, serving more than 290,000 Medical Assistance recipients.  Keystone Mercy's mission is to provide accessible, quality health care services to its members, with a special concern for the poor and disadvantaged.  For more information about Keystone Mercy Health Plan, please visit www.keystonemercy.com.

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