Atlantic General Hospital Receives $40,000 Grant From Arthur W. Perdue Foundation To Help Improve Health Literacy Of Worcester County'S Children
06-25-2013
Grant will support hospital’s efforts to introduce basic health principles
into core curriculum of Worcester County Public Schools
Atlantic General Hospital is the recipient of a $40,000 grant from Perdue
Farms through funding provided by the Arthur W. Perdue Foundation to further
its efforts to improve the health literacy of Worcester County’s
youth. The Foundation is the charitable giving arm of Perdue Farms.
Representatives from the hospital, the Arthur W. Perdue Foundation and
the Worcester County Board of Education came together today to recognize
the contribution and celebrate the efforts that are currently underway
to integrate common health and health care principles into the core curriculum
for grades K-8.
“Improving the health literacy of the next generation is critical
to the adoption of healthier lifestyles and proper utilization of healthcare
services,” said Michael Franklin, CEO of Atlantic General Hospital.
“Individuals have to understand basic health principles before they
can become active and effective partners in their own care. We’re
very pleased with the plan that has been put in place for the Worcester
County Public Schools.”
Obesity has been a burgeoning problem nationally since the 1980s, reaching
epidemic levels in the early 2000s, according to the CDC; the incidence
of chronic disease and the cost of healthcare have followed suit. As a
result, hospitals have renewed their focus on education and preventive
health services.
Under this plan, Atlantic General Hospital has developed a partnership
with the Herschel S. Horowitz Center for Health Literacy at the University
of Maryland College Park School of Public Health to draft a set of health
literacy standards for the K-8 public school curriculum. No such standards
for public schools currently exist in the U.S.
“The hospital is incredibly grateful to the Perdue Foundation for
supporting this exciting project. We have the opportunity to instill basic
understanding and appreciation for health and wellness – and what
medical care can and cannot do for you – in people at a very early
age,” said Laura Deeley Bren, chair of the Atlantic General Hospital
Foundation. “We will be providing them an invaluable foundation
for future health.”
Once the standards are complete, the hospital’s community education
department will work with the University of Maryland and the Worcester
County Board of Education to develop the specific lessons and resources
to apply these standards in the classroom on target for the 2014-2015
school year.
The integration of health literacy principles will vary depending on grade
level. Such lessons might include having students calculate their calorie
intake based upon information on a food label or the proper medication
dosage depending on their weight during a math lesson. For kindergarten,
principles may be as simple has a hand washing exercise.
In the interim, the partners plan to extend ad hoc health literacy lessons
introduced to the county’s afterschool programs this past year to
K-8 class instruction beginning in the fall.
“At Perdue, we salute the commitment of these health care and education
partners in their efforts to enhance the health and quality of life for
children in Worcester County. This curriculum will engage children in
their formative years and provide valuable lessons for creating a foundation
for healthy living,” said Bill Hetherington, executive director
of the Arthur W. Perdue Foundation. “We’re proud to invest
in their future through this funding from the Foundation.”
About Atlantic General Hospital
Atlantic General Hospital has been providing quality health care to the
residents of Worcester, Wicomico, Somerset (Md.) and Sussex (Del.) counties
since May 1993. Built by the commitment and generosity of a dedicated
community, the hospital’s state-of-the-art facility in Berlin, Md.,
combines old-fashioned personal attention with the latest in technology
and services. It provides quality specialty care such as general ophthalmic
and retina surgery, weight loss surgery, orthopedics, outpatient infusion
for individuals with cancer or blood/autoimmune disorders, and a comprehensive
women’s diagnostic center. Atlantic General Health System, its network
of more than 40 primary care providers and specialists, care for residents
and visitors throughout the region. For more information about Atlantic
General Hospital, visit www.atlanticgeneral.org.
About Perdue Farms
Perdue Farms is the parent company of Perdue Foods and Perdue AgriBusiness,
and represents the Perdue family ownership. Since our beginning on Arthur
Perdue’s farm in 1920, through expansion into agribusiness and the
introduction of the Perdue brand of chicken and turkey under Frank Perdue,
to our third-generation of family leadership with chairman Jim Perdue,
we’ve remained a family-owned, family-operated business dedicated
to making Perdue the most trusted name in food and agricultural products.
To learn more about Perdue, visit www.perdue.com.
About the Arthur W. Perdue Foundation
The Arthur W. Perdue Foundation, the charitable giving arm of Perdue Farms,
was established in 1957 by company founder Arthur W. Perdue and is funded
through the estates of Arthur W. Perdue and Frank Perdue. As part of our
belief in supporting the communities where and with whom we do business,
the Foundation provides grants on behalf of Perdue Farms in communities
where large numbers of our associates live and work. At Perdue Farms,
we believe in responsible food and agriculture.