I-HOPE

NEWS RELEASE
Monday, November 22, 2021

Qsource joins Indiana Department of Health and Purdue University in a statewide initiative to ensure more equitable access to health services Indianapolis, Ind. 1:05 PM — Qsource, today, announced its partnership with the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH), Purdue University and dozens of other organizations as part of a statewide initiative that aims to ensure Hoosiers have better access to the resources they need to improve their health.

The two-year Indiana Healthy Opportunities for People Everywhere, or I-HOPE, initiative will deploy teams across the state to facilitate community-level conversations, resulting in strategies to address the factors that prevent people from living their healthiest lives. The work will examine longstanding risk factors, as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Hoosiers’ health. The effort is being funded by a $34.8 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In addition to addressing chronic disease, food insecurity, opioids, obesity, smoking, and other Indiana health challenges exacerbated by pandemic-related isolation and treatment delays, I-HOPE partners will address factors that make it difficult for people to get healthy and stay healthy, such as limited access to healthcare, affordable housing, transportation, childcare, and safe and secure employment.

Qsource is working with new and existing partners in nine Indiana counties (Crawford, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Lawrence, Martin, Orange, Ripley, and Switzerland) to identify community needs, strengths and resources, and opportunities for innovative collaboration. Qsource will provide support, guidance, and education to county coalitions in the promotion of COVID-19 vaccinations, in addition to addressing other important health impacts, such as social determinants of health, mental health, and chronic diseases that have been affected by the pandemic.

“Qsource values our partnership in this important initiative, and we look forward to our continued engagement, commitment and pursuit of better health for all Hoosiers,” said Dawn FitzGerald. “Our teams live and work in the Indiana communities we serve. Encouraging and enabling a healthy mind and body at the local level is what really matters most to us,” she said.

During the two-year grant term, Purdue University’s Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering will deploy statewide teams to collaborate with the many I-HOPE partners working on projects statewide as well as 30 Indiana counties that have been most impacted by the pandemic. I-HOPE will support stakeholders with innovative tools aimed at building collaboration, hearing the voice of the community, and guiding participants to action.

For more information about I-HOPE, visit http://i-hope.purdue.edu.