Searching for Wisdom: Lessons from the WISEWOMAN Projects

Patti Poindexter, MPH, CHES, Health Education Specialist, CDC

Objective/Supporting Skills and Knowledge

Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to:

Provide a description of the WISEWOMAN screening and lifestyle intervention program
List culturally relevant strategies to improve lifestyle behaviors and to reduce disparities as well as lessons learned in implementing the program
Describe data on 1-year improvement in CVD risk factors
Describe the two unique program evaluation methods, including the use of a broader program evaluation framework that goes beyond the assessment of effectiveness to include a number of other important public health dimensions (RE-AIM model)
Describe the use of success stories for low-resourced programs

Summary

This session will describe the WISEWOMAN Program and its impact on the cardiovascular health of underserved women and to provide two unique approaches to evaluating a public health program such as WISEWOMAN. WISEWOMAN is a CDC-funded lifestyle intervention program aimed at reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk among low-income, uninsured women aged 40-64 years. WISEWOMAN projects have screened more than 40,000 women for a variety of cardiovascular disease risk factors and have delivered more than 90,000 lifestyles intervention sessions. At the end of the session, the audience should have a better understanding of a multi-faceted public health program aimed at reducing cardiovascular disease in women and reducing racial/ethnic disparities in health. They should also understand a variety of lessons learned discovered through use of both qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods.