Services for the UnderServed and Wellth to Partner to Improve Health Outcomes for Individuals with Diabetes and Hypertension in Greater New York City
Services for the Underserved and tech company Wellth seek to improve the health of individuals living with diabetes and hypertension through an innovative app
NEW YORK, Sept. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Services for the UnderServed (S:US), one of the largest non-profit community-based health and human services providers in New York, announced a partnership with Wellth, a digital health company, to increase medication and treatment plan adherence for individuals living with diabetes and hypertension.
Founded in 1978, S:US works with 35,000 individuals and their families every year to create pathways to rich and productive lives by offering housing, employment, skills-building, treatment and rehabilitation services. Many individuals served by S:US' behavioral health programs are impacted by diabetes and hypertension. S:US and Wellth hope to address this critical issue by providing a solution for chronic disease management for members of the community.
"We are very excited to start our partnership with Services for the UnderServed, an organization with tremendous success in improving the lives of people with disadvantages in our community." said Wellth CEO Matthew Loper. "This collaboration will deliver more effective, higher touch care to support the health and wellness of individuals living with complex behavioral and healthcare needs."
This new collaboration between S:US and Wellth will utilize Wellth's incentive-based behavioral economics intervention to help improve medication adherence for S:US members with diabetes and hypertension. A 2008 study from the American Diabetes Association reported that depression was significantly associated with treatment nonadherence, resulting in negative health outcomes including hyperglycemia and diabetes-related complications [American Diabetes Association, 2008]. Another study found that depression and anxiety were associated with increased risk of poorer outcomes in patients with cardiac disease and 34% higher chance of medication nonadherence [Berg et al., 2018]. Individuals seeking behavioral health services have the opportunity to benefit the most from a program focused on improving adherence.
"S:US is excited to bring in innovative technologies that can enhance our service delivery and improve treatment outcomes for our participants," said Trish Marsik, Chief Operating Officer. "We anticipate that Wellth will provide additional supports through a tech based approach and will increase our participants' ability to engage in healthy behaviors and better manage their hypertension and diabetes."
The Wellth app reminds members to take their medications, test their glucose levels, record blood pressure, or complete other condition-specific prescribed activities to increase adherence. Members are motivated to use the app through financial and other incentives. Wellth has worked with members living with chronic diseases in many populations impacted by social determinants of health, producing an average of 89% adherence to medications and other care plan behaviors such as regularly monitoring one's blood sugar.
Partnerships like S:US and Wellth's help both organizations improve the quality and value of care and improve health outcomes for the communities they serve.
About Services for the UnderServed (S:US)
Services for the UnderServed (S:US) drives scalable solutions to transform the lives of people with disabilities, people in poverty, and people facing homelessness: solutions that contribute to righting societal imbalances. By delivering high quality services that address the complex circumstances of each person, we transform lives, improve neighborhoods and boost future generations. With a staff of 2,400 that provides $200 million in services, our work is supported by various local, state and federal government agencies as well as foundations, corporations and individual donors. For more information, visit http://sus.org/.
SOURCE Wellth
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