California Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluation for Women Across the Nation (CA WISEWOMAN) Program
The WISEWOMAN program also known as the āHeart of the Familyā in California works with low-income, underinsured, or uninsured women between the ages of 40-64 to address the burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The program promotes knowledge, skills, and opportunities to improve diet, physical activity, and other lifestyle behaviors to prevent, delay, and/or control CVD and other comorbidities. CA WISEWOMAN is a sister program to Every Woman Counts, California Department of Health Care Servicesāāāāā Cancer Detection and Treatment Branch. Working together, the programs offer women access to services in one location.
The goals of CA WISEWOMAN are to: 1) provide CVD screening; 2) strengthen community-clinical linkages through work with community-based organizations to provide evidence-based prevention programs; 3) facilitate hypertension control by integrating innovative team-based care approaches; and 4) gather and report program related evaluation data, including impact measures.
CA WISEWOMAN supports CVD screening services for heart disease risk factors (e.g., cholesterol, blood pressure, and glucose) through bilingual and bicultural clinic staff. All CA WISEWOMAN clients receive risk- reduction counseling that includes an assessment of nutrition, physical activity, smoking behaviors, and physical and mental health status evaluations.
CA WISEWOMAN clients with abnormal screening values are invited to attend health coaching and/or lifestyle change programs for CA WISEWOMAN CVD risk reduction coaching. Health coaching utilizes principles of motivational interviewing to guide CA WISEWOMAN clients to adopt the best health behavior given their risk factors. Lifestyle intervention program options are culturally and linguistically appropriate and meet the varying needs of CA WISEWOMAN clients. The intervention may include the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program and the National Diabetes Prevention Program.
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