WISEWOMAN Program Locations
Oregon

Background: The Oregon Department of Human Services—Public Health Division is funded as a WISEWOMAN program since June 2008.

Lifestyle Interventions: Oregon will use the Living Well with Chronic Conditions Program to help women at risk develop a healthier diet, increase their physical activity, and self-manage their chronic condition in other, effective ways. Participants in the Living Well program attend a 6-week workshop with others affected by chronic conditions. Through weekly sessions, the workshop provides support for continuing normal daily activities and dealing with the emotions that chronic conditions may bring about. The Living Well workshop is the same as the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) developed by Stanford University.

Sites: The Oregon Department of Human Services has medical services agreements with several Oregon Breast and Cervical Cancer Program (BCCP) providers throughout Oregon. Oregon continues to grow its provider network. Currently services are provided at local health departments, federally qualified health centers, and private doctors’ offices. Screening services are offered to women aged 40-64 years. Priority populations include African American, Hispanic, Native American, and rural women across Oregon.

Screenings:  Screenings began in January 2009. Screening includes measuring blood pressure, cholesterol (total and high density lipoprotein), glucose, and assessing medical and family history, tobacco use, nutrition and physical activity behaviors, and motivation and readiness to make lifestyle behavior changes.

Key Partners:  Oregon Breast and Cervical Cancer Program, Oregon Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention, American Heart Association, and Susan G. Komen For The Cure.

For more information, contact: Erica Sandoval, MPH WISEWOMAN Program Coordinator Phone: (971) 673-2282 E-mail: Erica.Sandoval@state.or.us Check out Oregon's WISEWOMAN program at http://public.health.oregon.gov/HealthyPeopleFamilies/Women/HealthScreening/ wisewoman/Pages/index.aspx.

Program Highlights

Direct Services

• The Oregon WISEWOMAN program provides services at 11 clinics. The program conducted 934 screenings during the 2009–2010 reporting period.¹
• The Oregon WISEWOMAN program has sought to offer lifestyle interventions in the most cost-effective manner possible by referring women to Living Well with Chronic Conditions classes offered across the state. The program is adding "A New Leaf" as a lifestyle intervention option for WISEWOMAN participants.

Partnership

• The Oregon WISEWOMAN program found that some participants who needed medical services for high blood pressure or diabetes could not afford even a modest co-pay at a federally qualified health center. In order to help these clients access needed health care, the WISEWOMAN program formed a partnership with Project Access NOW. This nonprofit organization links patients to a network of volunteer physicians who provide services at no charge. Project Access NOW pays for office visits with a specialist, medication, and recommended procedures in three of the most densely populated counties in Oregon.

Evaluation

• The Oregon WISEWOMAN Program is developing a plan to assess several aspects of its lifestyle interventions, including barriers to women participating, challenges that clinics face in implementing the lifestyle interventions, and the outcomes of the lifestyle interventions. The results of this evaluation will help the program determine what changes are needed.

Reference

1. Data are reported from the preliminary WISEWOMAN Minimum Data Elements report (October 2010). Screening includes any WISEWOMAN-funded screening (blood pressure, cholesterol, or diabetes) provided from July 1, 2009, to June 30, 2010. Lifestyle interventions refer to the number of lifestyle intervention sessions conducted from July 1, 2009, to June 30, 2010.