HJBR Jan/Feb 2021

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE I  JAN / FEB 2021 37 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalBR.com initiative, a collaboration among Baton Rouge’s 73 top health and human services organiza- tions and hospital systems, is a critical commu- nity partner. Pennington Biomedical’s work with HealthyBR and its members’ strong community presence and connections are expected to help achieve the project’s aims. “Pennington Biomedical has demonstrated its commitment to helping Louisiana’s communities through three decades of research into chronic diseases,” said Associate Executive Director of Population and Public Health Sciences Peter Katzmarzyk, PhD. “For example, Pennington Bio- medical helped low-income patients with obe- sity lose weight by putting health coaches into primary care clinics, a setting where the patients were more comfortable.” “It’s possible that more people may undergo COVID-19 testing if tests are available in more relaxed settings, such as churches, schools, and community centers,” Katzmarzyk said. “We’re going to ask members of our Black communities what approaches they think would be best.“ “Since March, communities across the globe have worked together to combat the coronavi- rus pandemic – people of all backgrounds have experienced this pandemic. While we have all experienced COVID-19’s repercussions, data has shown us that the coronavirus is not just a health crisis, but a crisis that exposes the disparities of access that exist across many demographics in our city, parish, state and country,” said Mayor- President Sharon Weston Broome. “Pennington Biomedical’s effort to increase testing in Louisi- ana’s Black communities is vitally important in our effort to understand the spread of the coronavi- rus, as well as the role disparities play in its impact on our residents.” Louisiana’s Congressional delegation backed Pennington Biomedical’s efforts to secure the research funding. Sen. Bill Cassidy and Rep. Gar- ret Graves wrote letters of support to the NIH for the initial grant application. This research is supported by the National Insti- tute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award number U54 GM104940-05S3. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not nec- essarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Local Organizations Receive Grants forWorkforce Development, Farmers Market, COVID-19 Programs Louisiana Healthcare Connections announced that six community-based organizations have been awarded funding through the health plan’s COVID-19 Recovery Grants Program. The COVID- 19 Recovery Grants Program awards grants of up to $5,000 each to assist eligible organizations in implementing innovative solutions to address the social service and healthcare needs of those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizations selected for funding awards include: • Center for Employment Opportunities, in New Orleans, for its workforce develop- ment program; • Eternal Crisis Outreach, in Baton Rouge, for its “Louisiana Connections Through COVID- 19” program; • It Takes a Village Baton Rouge, in Baton Rouge, for its Love Out Loud Sundays Farm- ers Market; • The Rapides Exploratory Education (TREE), in Alexandria, for its camp and outreach scholarships; • The Re//DEFINED Project, in Alexandria, for its ReDEFINED Exchange program; • St. Mary Parish School Board and B. Edward Boudreaux Middle School, in Baldwin, for COVID-19 school preparedness. The COVID-19 Recovery Grants Program con- tinues to accept funding proposals from non- profit, Louisiana-based organizations that serve the Medicaid population. Grant proposals are reviewed weekly. Proposals may be approved, declined, or held for consideration for later funding. Organizations with approved propos- als will receive grant funds within 30 days. Addi- tional information about COVID-19 Recovery Grants Program as well as the formal RFP are available online at www.LouisianaHealthCon- nect.com/grants. Questions may be directed to CommunityGrants@LouisianaHealthConnect. com. MyH.E.A.L.T.H. PerformanceApp Coming to Civilian App Stores in 2021 U.S. soldiers, family members, and veterans have had exclusive access to a smartphone app they used to improve eating, sleeping, exercis- ing, and stress — until now. The same scientists who created the one-of- a-kind military app for the U.S. Department of Defense were given the go-ahead to complete a new consumer version for 2021 release with the support of a recent $75,000 LSU LIFT² (Leverag- ing Technology for Innovation) grant from the LSU Board of Supervisors. “The app is unique in that it takes a ‘whole- health’ strategy in addressing performance,” said Tiffany Stewart, MD, director of the Behav- ior Technology Lab at Pennington Biomedical Research Center. “The app has also been tested thoroughly by roughly 15,000 soldiers –a group that has to be physically fit, and at the same time also endure significant challenges and a tremen- dous amount of daily stress.” The app focuses on five key goals: weight man- agement, nutrition, physical activity, sleep, and resilience. Resilience is a combination of stress management and reduction, mood and anxiety modification, and mindfulness training, which Stewart said can play a big role in overall well- ness and the ability to meet key health goals. “Honing your resilience is especially important while everyone figures out how to cope and thrive in a time of perpetual uncertainty,” Stewart said. “This app distills 30 years of obesity research and military science into a powerful tool that can help anyone improve their health,” said Penning- ton Biomedical Executive Director John Kirwan, MD. “MyH.E.A.L.T.H. represents one of Penning- ton Biomedical’s major goals: to take science from the lab and put it to use in the community.” MyH.E.A.L.T.H will allow users to: • Create, log, track, and improve their health and performance habits with personalized workouts and instructions, custom remind- ers, and personalized expert advice; • Choose dietitian-created meal plans that fit their caloric prescription and help users stick to nutrition goals; • Create grocery lists for upcoming meals to streamline shopping; • Optimize sleep habits with sleep tracking. Identify patterns in sleep behavior and make changes to improve health and daily