$12 Million Grant to Improve Access to Chronic Disease Care in Maryland

Linda Aldoory will lead a health communications team in partnership with the Prince George's County Health Department.

Linda Aldoory, professor of communication and associate dean for research and development, is part of a research team that has received a five-year, $12 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The CDC has awarded the Prince George’s County Health Department a $12 million, five-year cooperative agreement to improve access to chronic disease care for an estimated 1.2 million residents in Prince George’s, Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties. The cooperative agreement will fund strategies that establish or strengthen the integration of clinical practice with evidence-based public health programs to improve treatment resources, prevention programs and overall health outcomes for patients at high-risk for diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

Partners include: Calvert County Health Department; Charles County Health Department; Chesapeake Regional Information System for our Patients; Community Care Coordination Team; Existing CDC-recognized Diabetes Prevention Programs; Health Quality Innovators; HealthCare Dynamics International; Institute for Public Health Innovation; Maryland Department of Health; Maryland Rural Health Association; P3 Pharmacist Network (University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Maryland Pharmacists Association, Maryland General Assembly, Maryland Department of Health); Prince George’s County Healthcare Alliance, Inc.; St. Mary’s AccessHealth; St. Mary’s County Health Department; Totally Linked Care, LLC (CalvertHealth Memorial Hospital, University of Maryland Capital Region North, Doctors Community Hospital, Fort Washington Medical Center, MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center, MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital, Area Agencies on Aging, Maryland State Medical Society and Primary Care Providers, Prince George’s County Health Department, Calvert County Health Department); University of Maryland, School of Arts and Humanities, Department of Communication; University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health; and the University of Maryland, School of Public Health, Horowitz Center for Health Literacy.

Aldoory is the Health Communication Lead on the cooperative agreement. The CDC awarded only 14 teams across the country to improve chronic disease health care and prevention. The local team that Aldoory is part of will focus on Prince George's County and Southern Maryland. Aldoory's work will involve developing and implementing tailored messaging to reach underserved communities with the goals of 1) increasing awareness of diabetes and cardiovascular disease and 2) eliminating barriers to participation in programs for prevention and disease management.