With collaboration from The University of Southern Indiana's Nursing Program, and the Southwest Indiana Council on Aging, this wellness program impacts nearly 150 of Southwest Indiana's elderly by decreasing the number of accidents and hospitalizations while providing a comprehensive, prevention program. The program utilizes a health assessment to individualize an appropriate plan of intervention in one or more of the focus areas of smoking cessation, nutrition, exercise and accident prevention.
The Southwestern Indiana Pharmacists Association along with ASSIST (American Stop Smoking Intervention Study) and The American Cancer Society joined forces to create a cost efficient method of smoking cessation for 1,000 Tri-State smokers. Using a national model with a 44 percent quit rate, the three groups have utilized a comprehensive behavioral program, pharmacist counseling and systematic follow-up with participants to encourage and facilitate smoking cessation.
Designed to improve and increase healthy food choices made by restaurant consumers, this program, managed and implemented by the Southwest Indiana Dietetic Association, is increasing public awareness of restaurants that provide healthy food choices as part of the menu. The program seeks to validate healthy food claims made by restaurants and to modify at least one recipe per participating restaurant to meet established criteria from SWIDA.
IMPACT Christian Health Center is devoted to serving the medically indigent in the inner city of Evansville. This group is using its grant to provide an accessible, structured exercise program with an experienced trainer to improve the condition of patients with chronic medical illnesses such as diabetes mellitus and hypertension. While promoting wellness in the target health areas as defined by the community health audit, the program reaches out to those in the inner city who would not have access otherwise.
With a $40,000 grant from the Foundation for Community Health, The United Way has developed a project where health is enhanced through investments in the social capital of the neighborhood – creating and strengthening the social networks of supportive people-to-people relationships. Healthy Neighborhoods seeks to increase access to basic health; improve overall health; demonstrate that physical health status is intertwined with social and psychological dimensions and demonstrate that once a group takes responsibility for itself, significant improvements can be made.
Educating youngsters on the importance of using a helmet to protect against head trauma is the focus of this program. Reaching 1,800 fourth graders in 20 elementary schools in Vanderburgh County with a one-hour program discussing how to prevent brain injury is money well spent. In addition, instruction about helmet use is offered when representatives from HealthSouth Tri-State Rehabilitation Hospital visit schools and donate free bike helmets to needy children.
With the hopes to educate parents and families about the importance of good nutrition and exercise, Cedar Hall School is using Community Resource Foundation funds to provide a hands-on approach that will encourage families to become active learners. Cooking and exercise classes will be offered and a health fair with free physicals, blood pressure and cholesterol screens will be held at the Family Resource Center at Cedar Hall School located at 2100 North Fulton Avenue.
The creation and maintenance of an Internet site for The Community Health Steering Committee was envisioned to house the Tri-State's health-related information and make it easily accessible. With links to various other Internet home page sites, the steering committee's Internet site has valuable and beneficial information about the status of our community's health. The new home page makes new information available in a timely and public manner. Visit us at http://fch.evansville.net.
Children who engage in regular exercise and maintain healthy nutritional choices and good health habits may be more likely to maintain these habits into adulthood. Fit Families, a cooperative project between The University of Evansville, Thompkins Middle School and Harwood Middle School, follows a two-phase program that emphasizes health related physical fitness and wellness in the student and the parent.
Living Healthy With Diabetes provides comprehensive care to people with diabetes. This program of prevention, management and social support is designed to reduce the incidence of disease and to minimize the costly effects of complications of this prevalent chronic health program. With the support of Foundation For Community Health grants, this program and many others are being implemented in this and other medically underserved areas of the Tri-State.
Because asthma self management has been proven to be clinically effective and to reduce the cost of asthma, education about this growing health concern is of great importance. Health care professionals from the four area hospitals conduct training for asthmatics 13 years of age and older. Topics range from how to manage attacks and symptoms to maintaining compliance for medications.
Using behavior modification programs from a variety of national and local sources, Washington Avenue Health Care Center implemented a nurse-managed community intervention program that is improving the health and well-being of a segment of Evansville whose residents are indigent, working poor or on Medicaid and/or Medicare. The programs provide awareness and education, counseling coupled with primary care to affect a positive change in patients and new clients.
This school-based program developed by Deaconess Heart Center, Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation and Welborn Hospital works to improve the health status of Vanderburgh County youths. The program includes a prevention program, an intervention program and community support delivered to 2,000 sixth graders through three classroom visits per year.
Funds granted to the University of Southern Indiana/Extended Services School of Nursing and Health Professions were used to develop and implement a certificate program in Health Promotion and Worksite Wellness; three new worksite wellness programs that address the four targeted risk factors from the community health audit and the Health Promotion Resource Center.
Targeting small businesses and schoolchildren, Acordia implemented a program focusing on accident prevention, nutrition, smoking cessation and exercise through a variety of community activities. Newsletters, cooking classes, exercise incentive programs, poster contests and more were utilized to educate employers, employees and children about healthy lifestyles and other wellness topics.
Using resources from the Metropolitan Evansville Chamber of Commerce and the University of Southern Indiana, The Tri-State Business Group on Health, Inc. is working to develop an assessment of the current benefit plan design of area employers, a review of the health care claims process and a health risk assessment (focusing on obesity, smoking and lack of exercise) of employees. Upon completion, the group will make recommendations to area employers for reducing health care costs.
Students attending Glenwood Middle School and 81 of their teachers and staff take center stage with USI's assessment, education and prevention program to develop a school community that focuses on healthy behaviors. Student nurses tailor a health promotion program for disadvantaged communities that is tied to cafeteria menus, curriculum in physical education and home economics.