Aetna (NYSE: AET) and the Aetna Foundation in 2008 awarded community grants and sponsorships in Tennessee totaling $50,000, with a particular focus on wellness and exercise (see also Aetna).
Aetna made a $25,000 grant to Porter-Leath ChildrenEs Center, which will help fund a nine-month pilot program that delivers wellness information to Memphis-area families through home visits. The ChildrenEs Center will leverage existing relationships with more than 1,000 disadvantaged families to raise awareness about the need for healthier lifestyles.
The Aetna Foundation provided a $25,000 grant to Vanderbilt University that will support oLive It! Go for the Red, White and Blue,o a school-based program offered in metropolitan Nashville middle schools. Through classroom instruction, individual on-line study and guided practice, the program focuses on the benefits of exercise. Stepping, a low-impact aerobic activity almost any student can do, is the featured exercise. The program also encourages healthy food choices through nutrition education.
oBoth of these programs address the need to raise awareness of the benefits of exercise and healthy eating,o said Jayna Harley, AetnaEs head of network operations for Tennessee. oAetna is committed to helping improve health outcomes in the state by supporting programs that encourage people to lead healthier lives.o
Aetna provides health benefits to more than 200,000 people in Tennessee. About the Aetna Foundation The Aetna Foundation is the independent charitable and philanthropic arm of Aetna Inc. Founded in 1972, the Foundation seeks to help build healthy communities by funding initiatives that improve the quality of life where Aetna employees and customers work and live.
The FoundationEs giving is focused on health, diversity and employee community involvement, with broader programs in our home sate of Connecticut. Since 1980, the Aetna and the Aetna Foundation have contributed over $334 million in grants, sponsorships and social investments. In 2007, Aetna and the Aetna Foundation contributed $24.5 million nationally.
Additional information about the Foundation is available about the Aetna Foundation is available at www.aetna.com/foundation About Aetna Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 37.2 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities and health care management services for Medicaid plans. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. For more information, see www.aetna.com.
Keywords: Alternative Medicine, Therapy, Treatment, Wellness, Aetna.
This article was prepared by Biotech Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2009, Biotech Week via NewsRx.com.
