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The Healthy HoopsSM Program

Healthy Hoops ProgramHealthy Hoops is an asthma education program that AmeriHealth Mercy Health Plan and its Healthy Hoops Coalition partners use to teach children and their families how to manage asthma through appropriate medication usage, proper nutrition, and monitored exercise.

This innovative program includes hands on asthma education plus basketball coaching sessions for the children from local coaches and entertainment for the whole family. The asthma education includes health assessments; spirometry screenings (to test lung capacity); asthma, cardiovascular, and nutrition education sessions; and parent education sessions.

Healthy Hoops is presented by AmeriHealth Mercy Health Plan, and the Healthy Hoops Coalition, made up of AstraZeneca, the American Lung Association, and other community and health organizations, as well as basketball coaches.

Since its inception, more than 2,500 children and their family members have participated in the Healthy Hoops Program. Healthy Hoops has received positive results in both participation rates and health outcomes, with participants showing an increase in the use of preventive medications, and a decrease in ER visits and hospitalizations, nocturnal awakenings, and the use of asthma rescue medication.

Healthy Hoops began in the Philadelphia area in 2003 with the goal of bridging the racial disparity gap of children with asthma. It has been recognized by NCQA in 2006 for Innovative Practices in Multicultural Health Care, and it is currently expanding nationally, with programs established in South Carolina, and in development in Kentucky and FloridaHealthy Hoops began in the Philadelphia area in 2003 with the goal of bridging the racial disparity gap of children with asthma. It has been recognized by NCQA in 2006 for Innovative Practices in Multicultural Health Care, and it is currently expanding nationally, with programs established in South Carolina, and in development in Kentucky and Florida.

See also:
Asthma Education Program Uses Basketball to Help Berks County Children Manage Their Disease