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WOONSOCKET, R.I. — To help promote preventive care, CVS/pharmacy has launched its annual Project Health wellness campaign, which this year is slated to deliver more than $15 million of free health screenings to multicultural communities nationwide.
The drug chain said Monday that over 750 Project Health events will be held at select CVS/pharmacy locations in 10 cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Events will also be held at some CVS/pharmacy stores in Puerto Rico.
Known as Proyecto Salud in Spanish, Project Health will offer a range of free health risk assessments, such as body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose tests and smoking cessation counseling. Other screenings to be offered include dental care in October and bone density in May and November.
Information and education will also be offered each month based on health awareness themes such as nutrition assessment, lifestyle stress tests and breast cancer education. CVS said that this year children ages seven and older can participate in the screenings with parental consent.
"Far too many of the multicultural populations we serve have difficulty accessing preventive care," Troy Brennan, executive vice president and chief medical officer at CVS Caremark, said in a statement. "Project Health makes it easier for our customers to make their health a priority, offering them health risk assessments free of charge right in their neighborhoods. This program allows us to better reach customers who come from a wide array of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, ensuring that we are able to help all people on their path to better health."
Project Health events are scheduled to be held from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at select CVS stores in March, April, May, September, October and November. No appointment is needed.
Once patients are screened, CVS will help them through on-site consultations with bilingual (Spanish/English) nurse practitioners or physician assistants, who will analyze results and refer those who require further medical attention to no-cost or low-cost medical facilities nearby or to their primary care doctor if follow-up care is needed. CVS pharmacists also will be available for one-on-one medication reviews and to answer patient questions.
Project Health succeeded the To Your Health program that CVS began in 2006. The company said that in 2012, almost 160,000 people were screened through Project Health events. Of the participants, 53% had at least one abnormal screening result, 51% had risk factors for osteoporosis, 51% were overweight or obese, 47% had at least one abnormal risk factor for heart disease, and 32% had abnormal glucose readings.
