Nashville General Hospital is getting a 3-million dollar federal grant to combat obesity and other metabolic-related conditions in a program that could become a model for the nation.
Although the details have yet to be sorted out, the pilot project will target Nashville’s minority communities that are underserved in the area of disease management. It focuses on lifestyle changes like diet and exercise, while educating people about their disease to control and even prevent the onset of chronic conditions like diabetes.
Metro Hospital Authority C-E-O Reginald Coopwood says the hospital will create its own disease management program. Coopwood says getting people to take responsibility for their behavior is likely to be the greatest challenge.
“I think one of the things is getting the individuals, finding a way to click them on to say I’m in charge of my disease and what it is that I do has a direct result on the outcome of my disease. If I’m a diabetic and I still eat large meals, and eat cake and eat pie, I’m not in partnership with my own body to manage my disease, how do you click that on to that population?”
The hospital isn’t sure yet how many people will be in the program. Nashville General hopes to have it up and running by late August or early September.
Nashville is the only city to receive the grant from the federal Centers for Disease Control.
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