Why FLPPS Chose this Project
The delivery of high-quality chronic disease preventive care and management has the potential to significantly impact the burden of chronic illness in a cost-effective, and even cost-saving way. Examples of such services include screening tests, counseling, immunizations and community-based programming used to prevent disease, detect health problems early and improve overall quality of life.
Currently, there are gaps in both the knowledge and distribution of such services by geography, provider type and area of focus. In response, this project is targeted toward increasing the numbers of New Yorkers who receive evidence-based programs and services that support the prevention and management of chronic illness, with a particular focus on those individuals with a diagnosis of Chronic Low Back Pain.
Chronic Low Back Pain was defined as the target for this project, as it had the second highest prevalence of all chronic conditions across the FLPPS service area. The only chronic condition that with a higher prevalence was depression.
Further, Chronic Low Back Pain is often a co-occurring diagnosis for those with other highly-prevalent chronic conditions, including depression, hypertension, and diabetes and substance use disorder. Effective prevention and management of Chronic Low Back Pain has the potential to also improve outcomes in these areas.