AmeriHealth Mercy Health Plan Holds
Healthy Hoops Program
in Reading, PA
Innovative Asthma Management Program Uses Basketball to Reach Children and Their Families
Reading (PA) –On Saturday, April 5, the Healthy HoopsSM Program is coming to Reading, PA for the first time, with a Kick Off event hosted at Northwest Middle School. Healthy Hoops is an asthma education and management program that uses basketball as a vehicle to teach children and their families how to manage asthma through appropriate medication usage, proper nutrition, and monitored exercise. Over 150 children with asthma and their families are expected to attend the Kick Off event.
The Healthy HoopsSM Kick Off event will include hands-on asthma education for children and their families, as well as basketball coaching sessions for the children from local coaches Sonny Hill, Brian Daly, Tanisha Giddens, and entertainment for the whole family. The asthma education component of the program will include health assessments; spirometry screenings (to test lung capacity); asthma, cardiovascular, and nutrition education sessions; and parent education sessions.
Healthy HoopsSM is presented by AmeriHealth Mercy Health Plan and the Healthy Hoops Coalition, made up of AstraZeneca, the American Lung Association, the Olivet Boys & Girls Club, Reading School District, and other local community and health organizations, as well as basketball coaches.
Healthy HoopsSM began in the Philadelphia area in 2003, in response to the rapidly growing problem of pediatric asthma, and with the goal of bridging the racial disparity gap of children with asthma. Asthma is the most common chronic disease among children, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. 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.
Details of the Kick Off event are as follows:
| When: |
Saturday, April 5, 2008
11:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. |
| Where: |
Northwest Middle School
1000 North Front Street
Reading, PA 19601 |
| Who: |
The following individuals will attend this year’s kickoff:
- Robert Cooper, Community Outreach Manager, AmeriHealth Mercy Health Plan
- Michael A. O'Pake, Pennsylvania State Senator, District 11
- Sonny Hill, The Sonny Hill Basketball League, advisor to Philadelphia 76ers
- Brian Daly, basketball coach, “All Ball!” and Monsignor Bonner High School
- Tanisha Giddens, assistant women’s basketball coach, Reading High School
- Crazy George, children’s educational entertainer
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