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Community Partnerships
"It's All about Health"
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is committed to improving the health of all Michigan residents. Michigan is our home, and we do everything we can to build healthier, stronger communities. Healthier, stronger communities start with the people in those communities.
Throughout Michigan, we're involved in community partnerships that encourage physical activity, prevent obesity, address health disparities and promote prevention and healthy lifestyles. We can't tackle these issues alone, so, we work with community organizations and business partners to promote health and wellness.
Here are programs and partnerships at work across Michigan:
- Body & Soul and the Blues Community Challenge
- Man Up! for Better Health
- Let's Talk Health: Health Disparities Community Collaborative
- Project FIT
- Winter Warm Up and Blues Community Challenge
- Farmers Markets Community Health Walks
- Get Moving U.P.!
- Let's Get Moving Kewadin
- Free Access to Superior Dome for Walking
Body & Soul and the Blues Community Challenge
Bridget Hurd, director of Community Responsibility at Blue Cross (far left), stands with Voncile Brown-Miller, division manager of health disparity programs at American Cancer Society, and Janice Fitzhugh, American Cancer Society (left — second row), as members of the Tabernacle Missionary Baptist congregation accepted the grand prize award from Blue Cross. Second Baptist of Detroit and New Ebenezer Baptist churches were also presented first place checks in the medium and small church categories.
In partnership with the American Cancer Society, this faith-based wellness initiative in African-American churches encourages individuals to get up and get moving, engage in regular physical activity and make healthy nutrition choices. Held in Metro Detroit, Flint and Grand Rapids, the program is a 10-week, incentive-based wellness competition. Challenging participants to see which churches can log the most miles of physical activity, the program reinforces the importance of a healthy diet in decreasing the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases. It combines pastoral leadership, educational activities and the church environment.
Man Up! For Better Health
Participants in Man Up! For Better health walk bring awareness to prostate cancer at Detroit's Belle Isle.
This year, a quarter million American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and 34,000 of them won't survive it. Wanting to reach men in the African-American community, BCBSM partnered with 100 Black Men of Greater Detroit, Inc. to launch an initiative to:
- Educate men about prostate disease and the importance of regular preventive screenings
- Encourage them to take control of their health
- Develop a relationship with a primary care physician.
The Man Up! campaign invites men to take the first step, make that visit to the doctor, learn about prevention and get tested. More than 100 trained volunteers take these important messages into barbershops, churches, community meetings and other sites. The campaign also includes educational sessions and an annual walk that encourage family members to get involved. The walk promotes the important roles of wives, daughters, sisters and friends in encouraging men to take control of their health and know the facts. The American Cancer Society is also a partner.
Let's Talk Health
Representatives from the Arab and Chaldean business and grassroots community participate in a “Let's Talk Health” panel discussion on August 19, 2009.
Photo: Kristie Stocker
Let's Talk Health is a community dialogue that examines opportunities to reduce health disparities in our diverse communities. Community leaders are brought together to discuss health issues and the concerns of their communities. Participants in the Let's Talk Health community conversation include health care providers (doctors and administrators), community organizations, advocates, agencies and members of faith-based organizations. These discussions explore and identify potential opportunities for partnerships that will reduce health care disparities.
The Blues and local nonprofit partners are hosting Community Conversations in targeted neighborhoods around the state. Community partner Seeds of Promise and Blue Cross facilitated a Let’s Talk Health dialogue session in Grand Rapids in September 2011. Valuable input from participants was used to develop the next steps and is highlighted in the final report (PDF).
Project FIT
Project FIT volunteers work hard to build a playgound to encourage healthy activities for children.
In 2009, the Blues launched Project FIT, an ambitious, two-year, $1 million childhood obesity prevention partnership with the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine and Grand Rapids Public Schools. FIT uses a multi-faceted approach to arm students from Campus, Buchanan, Cesar E. Chavez and Dickinson elementary schools in Grand Rapids with new tools to practice healthier lifestyles. The FIT team collaborates with participating schools' staffs, families and community organizations to establish a social culture that helps sustain healthy weight and wellness. Activities include:
- Healthy eating coaches who help students make healthier food choices in the school cafeteria.
- Lunch through Literacy shows students how to read ingredient labels.
- Health and fitness fairs and parent education sessions promote fun and engaging aspects of healthy living for the whole family.
Winter Warm Up and Blues Community Challenge
The Blues are teaming up with the Community Partners in Health for the 2011 Winter Warm-Up, featuring the kick-off of the Blues' Community Challenge
The Community Partners in Health Winter Warm-Up is a free program that offers resources for encouraging people to incorporate positive habits such as physical activity and healthy eating into a daily routine. The eight-week program provides tools, information and a community-based support network for all participants. Held at the Lansing Mall, the Weekly Walking Program supports indoor walking, blood pressure checks, weekly wellness information and online assistance in logging activity for the Blues' Community Challenge.
The Blues' Community Challenge is a contest between nine Greater Lansing communities. Teams from each community compete by signing up community members to log their physical activity. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan will award grants to nine participating teams with larger rewards going to the communities with the most logged miles and most participants. These grants support public health and wellness projects in each community.
The nine participating communities are:
- Charlotte
- East Lansing
- Grand Ledge
- Lansing
- Williamston
- Delhi Township
- Delta Township
- Lansing Township
- Meridian Township
Farmers Markets Community Health Walks
Participants in the July 10 Farmers Market Family Health Walk stroll through East Lansing's historic Glencairn neighborhood.
One of the easiest ways to develop better health is to increase activity levels, and eat fruits and vegetables daily. Throughout Central Michigan, the Blues have partnered with several organizations to present free, public Blues' Community Farmers Market Family Health walks. Each individual who walks a predetermined path during a sponsored, local event receives a $5 market coin or voucher to that community's farmers' market for fresh produce. Some of this year's partners include the Community Partners in Health, the Allen Neighborhood Center, the City of East Lansing, the City of Lansing, the South Lansing Community Development Association and the City of Port Huron.
This is an extension of the Blues Community Challenge in Lansing.
Get Moving U.P.!
Mike Fedrizzi (BCBSM); Paula Ackerman, Kay Bammert, Ann Constance, Janet Harry (Upper Peninsula Diabetes Outreach Network); George Sedlacek (Wellness Council of the Upper Peninsula)
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and the Wellness Council of the Upper Peninsula teamed up to hold the annual "Get Moving U.P." fitness program, an eight-week challenge encouraging local residents and businesses to incorporate physical activity into their daily routines. The goal for participants is at least 30 minutes of activity a day, five days a week.
Residents are encouraged to register for the competition individually or through their employer. Those reaching physical activity goals are eligible for prizes.
In addition to the individual prizes, Blue Cross donates $1,000 to a health-related charity chosen by the top three competing worksites.
Let's Get Moving Kewadin
Participants of the St. Ignace team celebrate their second-place victory in the four-community wellness challenge, based on physical activity and healthy lifestyle behaviors.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan partnered with the Sault Tribe's Strategic Alliance for Health project to engage people from tribal communities in a friendly community competition to increase levels of physical activity and make positive lifestyle changes to improve overall health.
Four communities competed to log the highest average miles per participant and receive a grant from BCBSM to enhance physical fitness activities in their neighborhoods. By the end of the eight-week challenge, more than 500 participants collectively logged more than 116,000 wellness miles through physical activity, nutrition and other healthy behaviors.
Free Access to Superior Dome for Walking
BCBSM's Patrick Prichard (second from left) takes a walk at the Superior Dome accompanied by (from left) Gary Muller, president and CEO of Marquette General Health System, the NMU mascot and NMU President Les Wong.
The Dome Walk partnership between Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Northern Michigan University and Marquette General Health Systems supports free access to the Northern Michigan University Superior Dome. This allows all residents to have a location to walk without cost to maintain their health throughout the year. Previously, access fees were $30 to $50 per person. Winter walking inside the dome has increased more than 300 percent since the start of the partnership in 2010.
