Congratulations to the Community Health and Social Services (CHASS) Center, Inc. and Dr. Ann-Marie Rosland on receiving a small planning grant to move forward with a collaborative program to improve the health of low-income Latino and African American patients at CHASS by engaging family supporters to work with patients to support and improve chronic disease management. The small planning grant program is offered by the Detroit URC in partnership with the Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research (MICHR).

The partnership and project is outlined below. 

• Project Title: "Community-Academic Partnership to Engage Family Supporters in Ongoing Chronic Disease for Latino and African American Adults in Detroit"
  
  
• Community-Academic Team: The community partner is the Community Health and Social Services (CHASS) Center, Inc, a Detroit URC affiliated organization and urban federally qualified community health center serving a predominantly Latino and African American population in Detroit. The academic partner is Ann-Marie Rosland, MD, MS, Assistant Professor in Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan School of Medicine and member of the URC-affiliated REACH Detroit Diabetes Partnership.
  
  
• Project Summary: The goal of this project is to tailor and optimize a program – called Family Partners for Health Action (FAM-ACT) – to train patients’ family supporters, along with patients, in evidence-based chronic disease activation, support, and self-management skills. In preliminary plans for FAM-ACT, Community Health Workers (CHWs) will provide family supporters and patients: 1) family-focused chronic disease management education sessions that train family supporters and patients in evidence-based techniques to support patient activation and health behavior change, 2) hands-on experience with management skills, and 3) family-focused coaching in preparing for and following up on health care appointments. 
  
  By developing and testing structured approaches to directly engage family members in supporting chronic disease management, this community-academic team aims to help community members avoid devastating health complications. African-Americans and Latinos are at particularly high risk for chronic disease complications, and programs to promote self-care for chronic health conditions have struggled to deliver relevant, effective, and sustainable support for racial and ethnic minority adults to become more active participants in healthcare, improve healthy behaviors, and reduce chronic disease complications. Many Latinos and African Americans rely strongly on family support to stick to self-management regimens and navigate the healthcare system. 

Related Links:

• Small Planning Grant Program
• CHASS website
• MICHR website