Chesterfield, Marlboro counties to benefit from health grant

By: Jamie Rogers | SCNow
Published: August 25, 2009

A a coalition of agencies dedicated to helping residents in Marlboro and Chesterfield counties has received a $375,000 grant to assist in their efforts to spread knowledge through the area about health and well-being.

The Northeastern Rural Health Network received the grant from Federal Office of Rural Health Policy through the Rural Health Care Services Outreach Grant program, said Melinda Merrell, director of the rural health network.

The three-year grant will help the network fund community-based health care services such as health screenings and wellness classes. The services will be provided through the network’s CATCH HOPE program. CATCH HOPE is an acronym for Community Action To Create Healthy Hearts, Open-minds and Personal Excellence.

The foremost goal of the network is to develop collaborative, economically viable partnerships and methods to improve the health of Chesterfield and Marlboro residents, Merrell said.

“What we will be doing is providing cardiovascular screenings such as blood pressure, body mass index, and cholesterol,” she said.

Wellness classes also will be offered as a supplement to the screenings, Merrell said.

The network is planning several six-week classes where residents can learn ways to exercise their bodies, she said.

“... They will also be able to meet with a dietician who will show them how to eat,” she said. “It’s almost like a support group.”

Cardiovascular health and physical ailments are directly linked to behavioral health conditions, Murrell said.

“Recent studies have shown a strong connection between heart disease and depression,” Merrell said. “If you have heart disease, you are likely to be depressed and if you are depressed, you are likely to develop heart disease.”

Data shows that people with chronic mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder have shorter life spans than those who do not, she said.

People with untreated mental illnesses sometimes do not take their medications or receive proper medical care for physical conditions such diabetes, Merrell said.

Northeastern Rural Health Network is comprised the following agencies and schools: CareSouth Carolina, the Chesterfield County Coordinating Council, Chesterfield General Hospital, the state Department of Health and Environmental Control Region 4 office, the Marlboro County Inter-Agency Council, Marlboro Park Hospital, Northeastern Technical College, Tri-County Community Mental Health Center and the University of South Carolina School of Medicine.