The Eastern Panhandle Integrated Delivery System in Petersburg, W. Va., recently received a Leadership Award from the American Association for World Health for a project that increases access to physical activity and mental health services for elderly rural Americans in six West Virginia counties.

The award was presented on World Health Day – April 5 – to four U.S. and three international programs for outstanding achievement in building awareness about the importance of physical fitness.

The program promotes physical activity and mental health services for the medically underserved elderly, age 55 or older, in Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Morgan, Pendleton and Tucker counties. Program features include:

• exercise physiologists at hospitals and health centers to provide nutrition education, supervised exercise and educational programs focusing on weight loss, cardiovascular health and stress reduction;

• a resource directory of health care providers in the six-county area to be distributed through places of worship and other meeting places;

• support groups for patients and their families focusing on diabetes, heart disease, and cancer; and

• health fairs on exercise and nutrition.

Supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the program is a collaborative effort of several local rural health and human services agencies, including hospitals and community and mental health centers.   

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