Does It Run In the Family? Toolkit Will Soon Be Available at Federal Health Centers Nationwide | Genetic Alliance

Does It Run In the Family? Toolkit Will Soon Be Available at Federal Health Centers Nationwide

FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
June 2, 2011 Contact: Vaughn Edelson
202-966-5557 x213
vedelson@geneticalliance.org

Does It Run In the Family? Toolkit Will Soon Be Available at
Federal Health Centers Nationwide
Genetic Alliance partners with HRSA to increase awareness of family health history

Washington, DC – June 2, 2011 – Genetic Alliance, in partnership with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), selected six HRSA-funded health centers to integrate the Does It Run In the Family? toolkit into their clinical care and outreach practices. Selected centers will receive $40,000 each to implement and evaluate their programs, with the goal of creating and sustaining awareness and discussion of family health history among health center providers, staff, and patients.

“It is crucial that all stakeholders in the provision of healthcare – clinicians and patients alike –understand the importance of family health history in promoting healthy behaviors and identifying risk factors for both common and rare disorders,” said Dr. Peter Van Dyke, Associate Administrator of HRSA’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau. “Family health history is often called the most basic genetic test because it involves lifestyle, environment, behavior and culture. The Does It Run In the Family? toolkit elaborates on all these components of family history, which will give providers in our health centers the information they need to continue to offer great patient care.”

Over the course of 15 months, Genetic Alliance will work with the six centers to integrate family health history into their programs and processes as well as evaluate the impact of the Does It Run In the Family? toolkit on provider, staff, and patient family history education and engagement. Sites will then suggest recommendations for dissemination of the toolkit into additional HRSA-funded health centers and other healthcare outlets across the country.

“We appreciate HRSA’s commitment to making sure that underserved communities and the health professionals that serve them have access to family health history resources that are easy to understand,” commented Sharon Terry, president and chief executive officer of Genetic Alliance. “Healthcare should be a partnership between patients and their providers. This project will empower all parties to use family health history information to help them stay healthy.”

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Does It Run In the Family? Toolkit Will Soon Be Available at Federal Health Centers Nationwide | Genetic Alliance