Aetna Group Insurance Announces Recipient of the Aetna Susan B. Anthony Award for Excellence in Research.

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Debra A. Heller, Ph.D. Receives Honor at 132nd Annual American Public Health Association Conference

Aetna Group Insurance, a unit of Aetna Life Insurance Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aetna Inc. (NYSE:AET), and the Gerontological Health Section of the American Public Health Association (APHA) announced the 2004 recipient of the Aetna Susan B. Anthony Award for Excellence in Research for Older Women and Public Health. Debra A. Heller, Ph.D., received the honor for her study of the effect of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on quality of life. Aetna and APHA cosponsor this annual award program to honor individuals whose research has made significant differences in the lives of older women.

"As we celebrate the fifth year of the Aetna-sponsored award program, we recognize the significant contributions researchers have made toward improving the quality of health care for older women," said Marcia Ory, Ph.D., M.P.H., and chairwoman of the selection committee. "We look forward to working together to identify older women at risk for health problems and developing new programs for them."

Heller is a pharmacy research scientist at First Health Services Corporation, the administrator for Pennsylvania's Pharmaceutical Assistance Contract for the Elderly (PACE) program. Her research suggests that the age at which women stop HRT could play a role in their quality of life and highlights the importance of communication between doctors and patients during the HRT "weaning" process to help them prepare for possible side effects.

"Aetna is proud to sponsor a program that recognizes researchers who work to improve the health status of older women," said Janet Kennedy, Aetna Group Insurance product head for Long Term Care. "Because the majority of primary caregivers are women, women face challenging health care issues as both the providers and recipients of care."

"Many chronic health conditions are prevalent in women; as health care leaders, we have to continue to examine these issues and develop a strategy to proactively address them," said Cheryl Pegus, M.D., M.P.H, head of Aetna Women's Health. "It is critical to conduct research to understand the health needs of underserved and geriatric populations."

The annual award is given by Aetna Group Insurance and the Gerontological Health Section of the American Public Health Association to honor individuals whose research has made significant differences in the lives of older women. Award recipients were recognized on Monday at the 132nd APHA Annual Meeting, held in Washington, D.C.

Ruth D. Palombo, Ph.D., M.S., R.D., received an honorable mention for her research on how gender and support resources affect psychological well-being among older adults. She found that social connections, activities and emotional support play a particularly important role for women with physical limitations.

The award was created through a $50,000 endowment provided by Aetna in conjunction with the Gerontological Health Section of the APHA to recognize the best research on older women and public health. One of the primary goals of the award program is to recognize research that leads to better awareness of health risks, the design of preventive health and screening programs, medical treatments and public health interventions that will help older women as health care consumers and caregivers.

As one of the nation's leading providers of health care, dental, pharmacy, group life, disability and long-term care benefits, Aetna puts information and helpful resources to work for its approximately 13.6 million medical members, 11.6 million dental members, 8.3 million pharmacy members and 13.3 million group insurance members to help them make better informed decisions about their health care and protect their finances against health-related risks. Aetna provides easy access to cost-effective health care through a nationwide network of more than 646,000 health care professionals, including over 385,000 primary care and specialist doctors and 3,908 hospitals. For more information, please visit www.aetna.com.