WISEWOMAN Program Locations
West Virginia

Background: The West Virginia WISEWOMAN Program was funded as an enhanced research project from 2003–2008, under the auspices of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources and the West Virginia University School of Nursing. In 2008, West Virginia WISEWOMAN became integrated with the West Virginia Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Program (BCCSP).

Lifestyle Intervention:  West Virginia developed Cookin’ Up Health, a two-pronged approach to LSI: a computer-based interactive nutrition component coupled with a tailored, print-based health and physical activity component. Cookin’ Up Health offers culturally relevant recipes, cooking techniques and shopping advice and individually tailored health communications based on the participant’s stage of readiness to change. Six print-based health messages will be mailed to participants throughout the year to help women adopt and maintain behavior change.

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

Sites: 35 primary care centers/local health departments, serving 55 counties.

Key Partner: West Virginia University School of Nursing.

For more information, please contact: Sheryn Carey Program Coordinator Phone: (304) 558-0351 E-mail: Sheryn.L.Carey@wv.gov GeorgeAnn Grubb, MPH Program Director Phone: (304) 558-5388 E-mail: Georgeann.Grubb@wv.gov

Program Highlights

Direct Services

• The West Virginia WISEWOMAN program conducted 1,339 screenings during the 2009–2010 reporting period.¹

Partnerships

• West Virginia's geography can make travel challenging in bad weather, and many rural communities are isolated. These challenges influenced the West Virginia WISEWOMAN program's choice of a Web-based lifestyle intervention, Cookin' Up Health. To ensure that all women would have computer access, the West Virginia WISEWOMAN program partnered with the 197 public libraries in the state and 25 libraries in surrounding states (for women residing in border communities). WISEWOMAN staff visited every public library to ensure computers could download Cookin' Up Health, train librarians on accessing and navigating the online system, and demonstrate various program features.

Evaluation

• In 2009–2010, the West Virginia Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Program epidemiologist evaluated several aspects of the WISEWOMAN program using program data and online provider surveys. The overall program evaluation focused on reasons for low screening numbers, provider recruitment and retention, and provider satisfaction. Based on the information obtained, the epidemiologist recommended that the WISEWOMAN program work more closely and proactively with providers. A three-part process is being developed to provide routine support, technical assistance, and motivation to providers with low screening numbers.

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.