By Stephanie Stephens, California Healthline Regional Correspondent for California Healthline
LOS ANGELES — Adults ages 50 and older who live in South Los Angeles now have help to get healthy and “HAPPI.” Instead of waiting for seniors to access and receive no-cost preventive health services, the new Healthy Aging Partnerships in Prevention Initiative meets them “where they are.”
Approximately 1.1 million people of all ages live in South L.A., and roughly 20% are 50 or older, said project leader and research scientist Kathryn Kietzman at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
HAPPI, a community-based research project, has assembled a diverse team to encourage use of clinical preventive services. The collaborative effort includes:
- Los Angeles Department of Public Health;
- Southside Coalition of Community Health Centers;
- Los Angeles City and County Departments of Aging;
- Local community-based organizations; and
- A multidisciplinary group of UCLA investigators.
HAPPI is funded by HHS Mobilization for Health: National Prevention Partnership Awards Program and the UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute. It aims to increase the use of “high-value,” bundled services — including breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening; influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations; and cholesterol tests — among older adults who are racial and ethnic minorities.
“Services for this population are being underutilized, even in the face of new provisions available through the Affordable Care Act,” Kietzman said. “They’re free but many people don’t know that.”
