WISEWOMAN Program Locations
South Dakota

Background: Since 2000, South Dakota Department of Public Health has been funded as a standard project.

Lifestyle Intervention: South Dakota uses A New Leaf...Choices for Healthy Living as their curriculum to emphasize the importance of living a healthy lifestyle. Women are eligible for three Lifestyle Interventions the first year they enroll into the program and are seen either individually or in a group. Teaching methods vary and can be in-person, telephone, or self-study.

Screening: Risk factor screening includes blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol and other lipids testing as well as assessing weight, medical history, tobacco use, poor diet, and physical inactivity.

Sites: South Dakota contracts statewide with more than 250 clinics to provide Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program services. The same providers will offer WISEWOMAN screening and refer women to lifestyle interventions.

Key Partners: American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, DakotaCare, Indian Health Service, Multicultural Center, St. Mary’s Healthcare Foundation, South Dakota Department of Corrections, South Dakota Department of Health–Breast and Cervical Screening Program (All Women Count!), South Dakota Department of Social Services and South Dakota State University College of Nursing.

For more information about All Women Count! and the WISEWOMAN program in South Dakota, contact: Patty Lihs, BS WISEWOMAN Program Coordinator Phone: (605) 773–3622 or 1–800–738–2301 E-mail: patty.lihs@state.sd.us Norma Schmidt, MA WISEWOMAN Program Director Phone: (605) 773–5728 E-mail: norma.schmidt@state.sd.us Check out the South Dakota WISEWOMAN program at http://www.center-trt.org/ and South Dakota Department of Health—All Women Count! at http://getscreened.sd.gov/count/.

Program Highlights

Direct Services

• The South Dakota WISEWOMAN program, All Women Count!, conducted 2,878 screenings during the 2009–2010 reporting period, exceeding its screening goal by 16%.¹
• The South Dakota WISEWOMAN program, All Women Count!, conducted 1,313 lifestyle intervention sessions during the 2009–2010 reporting period.

Partnerships

• The South Dakota WISEWOMAN program, All Women Count!, implements services in Indian Health Services clinics. Since All Women Count! is a program offered by an entity outside of the Indian Health Services system, the staff partners with Tribal Community Health Representatives from each of the tribes in the area to educate community members and help raise awareness of the All Women Count! program. The partnership ensures the services provided in the clinics are culturally relevant and the program is promoted in a way that will be well received by the women.

Evaluation

• The South Dakota WISEWOMAN program, All Women Count!, provides services to eligible women in the prison system. The program decided to evaluate the implementation of All Women Count! in the prison. Focus groups were held with women who had participated in the lifestyle intervention classes, and meetings were held with prison staff and the interventionist who conducts the lifestyle intervention classes. In August 2010, an evaluation brief was published that summarized the findings. Based on the findings, communication around making sure the women were aware of when the lifestyle intervention classes were being held was an issue. This resulted in the development of posters and postcards that provided information about the classes. Prison staff have indicated that they believe it has helped increase participation in the classes and that women appreciate prior notification of when the classes will be held.

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.