Four Michigan Organizations Awarded $120,000 in Grants From UnitedHealthcare to Help Prevent and Reduce Tobacco Use

Four Michigan Organizations Awarded $120,000 in Grants From UnitedHealthcare to Help Prevent and Reduce Tobacco Use

DETROIT (Dec. 20, 2016) – Four community organizations each received a $30,000 grant from UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Michigan for programs aimed at preventing and reducing tobacco use, and eliminating exposure to secondhand smoke.

Awardees include:

• Leaders Advancing and Helping Communities (https://lahc.org/) in Dearborn and Detroit will provide more than 500 high-school students with culturally competent Botvin LifeSkills Training (LST), a research-validated substance-abuse prevention program; ‘harms of smoking’ classes for expecting mothers and their partners; and tobacco-cessation programs for other adults.
• District Health Department #10 (https://www.dhd10.org/) in Newaygo County will implement an educational campaign targeting 4,000 students and residents, as well as tobacco-cessation programs.
• Spectrum Health Foundation (http://give.spectrumhealth.org/) in Grand Rapids will provide tobacco-prevention education to more than 800 students in six Kent County elementary, middle and high schools.
• Chaldean American Ladies of Charity (http://calconline.org/) in Sterling Heights will provide tobacco- and hookah-prevention and cessation workshops for more than 800 kids and their parents.

“Tobacco use remains a public health threat nationwide, especially in Michigan, where nearly 30 percent of children live in homes where people smoke,” said Dennis Mouras, CEO of UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Michigan. “UnitedHealthcare is grateful for the opportunity to support these organizations that are working on the frontlines to prevent and reduce tobacco use in our communities and our homes.”

Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. According to the 2015 America’s Health Rankings® report, more than 21 percent of Michiganders smoke, compared with just over 18 percent nationally, and almost 12 percent of Michigan high-school students reported smoking cigarettes. The 2016 America’s Health Rankings® Health of Women and Children report showed nearly 30 percent of Michigan children from birth to age 17 live in households where someone uses cigarettes, cigars or pipe tobacco.

Grant applications were submitted in July following community brainstorming sessions where stakeholders discussed opportunities to address tobacco cessation. Michigan-based nonprofits, Federally Quality Health Centers (FQHCs) and government agencies were among the qualifying organizations that submitted requests for proposals (RFPs).

UnitedHealthcare serves more than 825,000 people in Michigan enrolled in employer-sponsored, individual, Medicare and Medicaid health plans, with a network of 163 hospitals and more than 32,000 physicians and other care providers statewide.

About UnitedHealthcare

UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, military service members, retirees and their families, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 1 million physicians and care professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow @myUHC on Twitter.