| Health Partnership - The Michigan WISEWOMAN Lifestyle Intervention |
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Resources Required
This section describes the resources used by the Michigan WISEWOMAN Program to implement this intervention. Please note that the resources needed to implement the intervention in your community may vary and are dependent upon your existing infrastructure and how the intervention is adapted for your community. When determining the resources required, consider the intervention delivery method(s) (e.g. will the intervention be delivered in groups, one on one, self-study etc.); the planned exposure to the intervention including the number (dose)and length (intensity) of contacts; the number of sites that need to be staffed; and the knowledge, skills and abilities of staff.
Staff
The current structure of this program includes two full time employees at the state level:
- The Program Coordinator oversees all program activities to ensure compliance with CDC protocols and performance indicators.
- The Intervention Specialist maintains regular contact with the Lifestyle Counselors at the local health departments. This contact helps keep the Lifestyle Counselors motivated and provides an opportunity for the Intervention Specialist to learn about any issues that might arise related to counseling the clients.
- A coordinator who is the point person for WISEWOMAN activities,
- Screeners who conduct the screenings, and
- Lifestyle Counselors who conduct the Health Partnership Intervention
In addition, each local health department is staffed with:
In some cases one person will conduct the screening and the Health Partnership Intervention depending on the structure of the health department.
Lifestyle Counselors are hired by the local health departments. Michigan’s counselors have included Registered Nurses, Registered Dieticians, Licensed, Certified Social Workers, and Health Educators. While there are no standard qualifications, most do have a bachelor’s degree (at minimum) with a focus on health.
Materials
There are health education materials for the counselors and resources for the clients that can be downloaded from this site. These materials are provided in each training manual given to local health department staff. However, Health Partnership Intervention does not require the use of a standard curriculum.
Incentives, while optional, may be used to motivate participants to make healthy lifestyle changes and assist with successful goal attainment. Local health departments determine how to use the incentives to best meet the needs of participants. Items that have been used as incentives include t-shirts, tote bags, key chains and cookbooks. Many of the items are free or low cost. A more complete list of incentives that the Michigan Department of Community Health provides can be found in the intervention materials.
Training
Lifestyle counselors need to be trained in Motivational Interviewing and the Transtheoretical Model (Stages of Change). The initial training takes place at the local health department which requires 3 hours of time (at a minimum) from state and local staff.
Other Costs
The local health departments are reimbursed $105 per client screened for intervention management. Half of this cost is directed toward screening efforts and half is directed to the Lifestyle Intervention. Most of this reimbursement goes toward staffing and other miscellaneous costs to ensure the local health department has the resources available to provide services to the client.
There is also reimbursement provided to the local health department for lifestyle counseling sessions. There are six rates (ranging from $16.50 to $66), depending on the amount of time of the session and whether it is an individual session vs. a group session.