Arc of Central Kentucky Celebrates Graduates of Health & Wellness Program
The Arc of Central Kentucky, The Arc of Kentucky and Anthem Medicaid will celebrate the graduation of 26 local people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who participated in the “Health and Fitness for All” project.
The ceremony is Feb. 28 at Employment Solutions in Lexington.
“Health and Fitness for All” is a 12-week program, led by instructors from The Arc of Central Kentucky, which stresses the importance of physical activity and provides participants with health tips.
“Health and Fitness for All” utilizes the HealthMatters curriculum, which is a training developed by the University of Illinois at Chicago that provides a tailored physical activity and health education program for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, adults with disabilities have an almost 60% higher rate of obesity than adults without disabilities.
People with disabilities also experience three times the risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke and cancer as compared to the general population.
“Anthem Medicaid is committed to improving the overall health and well-being of its consumers, and we understand the important role that healthy eating decisions and physical activity can have on achieving that goal,” said Celia Manlove, president of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Kentucky Medicaid.
“We are thrilled to have worked with The Arc to help promote health education, improve access to healthy foods and increase physical activity for those who participated in this program.”
The “Health and Fitness for All” project is funded by a national grant of nearly $88,000 from Anthem BlueCross BlueShield’s parent company, the Anthem Foundation, which will be used to conduct this health project at nine chapters of The Arc in Texas, Wisconsin and Kentucky.
The Arc of Kentucky advocates for and serves people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, including Down syndrome, autism, fetal alcohol spectrum sisorders, cerebral palsy and other diagnoses.
The Arc of Kentucky is connected to a network of more than 650 chapters across the country promoting and protecting the human rights of people with I/DD and actively supporting their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes and without regard to diagnosis.
Info: Sherri Brothers at The Arc of Central Kentucky. (502) 517-6511 or sherribrothers@bellsouth.net.