Clinical and scientific evidence demonstrate basic diseases that afflict both women and men are the same: cardiovascular diseases, cancers, musculoskeletal problems, diabetes, mental illness, sensory impairments, sexually health, and infectious diseases and their sequelae. Although trends, rates, and specific disease types may differ between men and women, it is as important to consider the complexity of roles, norms, values, responsibilities, freedoms and limitations, and their bearing on health and health seeking behavior and research.

S-THRIVE (Sustained Translation of Health Risks and InterVEntion: Surviving through Education) is an initiative developed to address disease management and health related issues within respective gender-based populations through consumer and professionally focused educational and informational programs. The S-THRIVE Initiative Objectives are to:

• Increase public awareness about chronic diseases (high blood pressure, diabetes, HIV-AIDS, sexual health, cancer, mental health and substance abuse, etc.) and their risk factors.
• Engage the public, private, non-profit, and faith-based sectors in developing, implementing, and evaluating a community program that meets the health needs of its population and utilizes the experiences and knowledge of NBNF, The 1Joshua Group, and the community.
• Identify, motivate, educate, equip, and prepare community leaders and individual members of the community to become ambassadors to advocate for health.
• Create academic, corporate, private, public, and community partnerships that bring together organizations and individuals whose participation demonstrates that intense community involvement can produce dynamic interaction between the program and community.

The initiative takes advantage of an organizational structure that engages community participation to:

• Create a sustainable community core of identified health information disseminating leadership;
• Provide a forum for discussions around therapeutic and issues-related areas;
• Provide consumer and professional educational programming;
• Present information focused on general health and wellness; specific therapeutic areas, health policy, research, and advocacy issues; and
• Gather information around actual versus perceived risks and behaviors.

This health and wellness initiative is comprised of two component programs: STRIVE (Strengthening the Translation of Health Risk and InterVEntions: Men Surviving through Education) a men’s health and wellness program, and THRIVE (Translating Health Risk and InterVEntion: Women Surviving through Education) a women’s health and wellness program. Each program within the Initiative is developed to promote awareness about risk factors, prevention, treatment, research, policy, and advocacy.

The STRIVE program will address contributing health factors in the gap in men’s life expectancy and the culture of being male-glorified risky behaviors, values, power, entitlement, and control. THRIVE is developed to examine how women may be affected differently by disease symptomology and to discuss the uniqueness of diseases and conditions in women. As a core aim, each program seeks to measure changes in awareness, visibility of information, and to generate momentum about health and wellness.

These programs are developed in collaboration with professional and consumer communities. The programs are developed to measure the benefit derived from participating in these activities, the level of understanding about health, family history, and gauge interest levels in participating in clinical research.

The S-THRIVE Initiative aims to publish information gathered around the influence of educational and information programs – utilizing community-based programs that coincide with national efforts – to successfully promote health and wellness awareness and disease prevention and management control. We believe there is an affirmative association between community-based programs and the promotion of health, wellness, and health seeking behavior.