WISEWOMAN Program Locations
Michigan

Background: Since 2000, Michigan Department of Community Health has been funded as a standard project.

Lifestyle Intervention: Michigan WISEWOMAN developed the Health Partnership Lifestyle Intervention to create a supportive relationship between the Lifestyle Counselor and the WISEWOMAN participant to help the participant reduce her modifiable cardiovascular disease risk factors by improving healthy eating behaviors, increasing physical activity, and/or quitting smoking. A participant may receive up to six lifestyle counseling contacts depending on her motivation and her screening results.

Screening: Clinical measurements include body mass index, blood pressure, total and HDL cholesterol, glucose, and pulse regularity. Lifestyle counselors also review other chronic disease risk factors such as family history of diabetes and premature cardiovascular disease (CVD), personal history of CVD and diabetes (including prediabetes and gestational diabetes), smoking status, nutrition practices, and physical activity levels.

Sites: The Michigan Department of Community Health contracts with nine local health departments, one federally qualified health center, and one free clinic to implement the WISEWOMAN program in 29 counties around the state. The program provides services to women in the urban areas of Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Benton Harbor, and Muskegon as well as serving Medically Underserved Areas in rural Michigan.

Key Partners:  Local Health Departments, Michigan Public Health Institute, Federally Qualified Health Centers, Rural Health Clinics, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, Michigan State University Extension, Michigan Office of Services to the Aging, National Kidney Foundation of Michigan, Michigan Diabetes Partners in Action Coalition, Michigan Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, Michigan Inter-Tribal Council, Michigan Cardiovascular Alliance, Tobacco Free Michigan.

For additional information, contact: Robin Roberts, BA, MA WISEWOMAN Program Manager Phone: (517) 335–1178 E-mail: robertsrobi@michigan.gov Paulette Valliere, PhD, MPH WISEWOMAN Program Director Phone: (517) 335–8049 E-mail: vallierep@michigan.gov Check out Michigan's WISEWOMAN program at http://www.michigancancer.org/bcccp/WiseWomanProgram

Program Highlights

Direct Services

• The Michigan WISEWOMAN program conducted 4,260 screenings during the 2009–2010 reporting period, exceeding its screening goal by 5%.¹
• The Michigan WISEWOMAN program conducted 9,483 lifestyle intervention sessions during the 2009–2010 reporting period.

Partnerships

• Because of limited income, many WISEWOMAN participants do not have access to fresh fruits and vegetables. The Michigan WISEWOMAN program partnered with Michigan’s Office of Services to the Aging (OSA) to implement a fresh fruit and vegetable program modeled after the USDA Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (Project Fresh in Michigan). Interested WISEWOMAN participants received $20 coupons to purchase Michigan-grown fresh fruits and vegetables. The program, called WISEWOMAN Market Fresh, was very popular, and participants redeemed 82% of the coupons distributed.
  
  A side benefit of the partnership between the Michigan WISEWOMAN program and OSA was the establishment of a farmers market in two rural communities. One of the communities, Lake County, did not have a farmers market where WISEWOMAN participants could use their Market Fresh coupons. The Lifestyle Counselor in Lake County worked with a WISEWOMAN participant, who is also a farmer, to establish the market. The WISEWOMAN participant became certified to accept Market Fresh coupons, and she and her husband set up a farmers market in the parking lot of the health department on clinic days. They were able to accept not only Market Fresh coupons but also Project Fresh coupons, thus increasing access to fresh fruits and vegetables for other community members. It was a successful partnership for everyone involved.

Evaluation

• The Michigan WISEWOMAN program asks participants in its entrepreneurial gardening project to complete a survey about their physical activity and the number of servings of fruits and vegetables consumed. The survey is completed before women enroll in the project and again at the end of summer. Women who participate in the project report eating more fruits and vegetables and being more physically active after being with the program for a year.

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.