Sanofi-aventis Affirms Its Commitment to Partnering with Local Communities to Improve Hispanic and African Ameri...( Baltimore Activity Demonstrates Benef...),Health

Baltimore Activity Demonstrates Benefits of Linked Community Health Resources

BRIDGEWATER, N.J., April 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sanofi-aventis U.S. today presented progress of its Community Health Partnership (CHP), It's In Our Hands, at the 6th Annual National Minority Quality Forum Health (NMQF) Disparities Leadership Summit in Washington, DC. The CHP is a unique community-based initiative that aims to decrease health disparities among minority communities through collaboration between the private and public sectors.

Deborah Jones, Ph.D., R.N., Assistant Professor of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and member of the CHP's Community Health Action Team, has seen the program's effects on the community firsthand and comments, "The CHP has strengthened relationships in Baltimore between some of the city's largest institutions and smallest community-based organizations and as a result, we are able to provide a more holistic and proactive approach to patient care."

In Baltimore alone, the CHP has forged significant alliances with the city's most influential institutions including Johns Hopkins University and The University of Maryland Medical System. Additionally, the CHP in collaboration with the University of Maryland will be launching an outcomes study to explore improvement in patient compliance to prescribed regimen when combined with follow-up support from physician's offices, pharmacists and other community resources. The study will also quantify the impact of raising awareness of community resources with healthcare providers.

"We are very pleased with the results of the program in Baltimore. Since our launch in October 2008, we've worked in close partnership with leaders in our community to distribute information to patients and to increase the effectiveness of patient self care," noted Dwyan Monroe, Community Health Liaison for
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