Wellmark Foundation Grant to Support Health Literacy Project for Members of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe

April 16, 2007

Printer-Friendly Version

Contact:
Angela Feig
515.245.4551
feigab@wellmark.com

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Black Hills State University in Spearfish, S.D., received a $62,381 grant from The Wellmark Foundation to implement a health literacy assessment and improvement project for members of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe.

Health Literacy Assessment and Improvement Among Crow Creek Sioux Tribe People With Diabetes will strive to improve health outcomes among Crow Creek Sioux Tribe members with diabetes, says Mary Rogers, Ph.D., researcher at Black Hills State University’s American Indian Health Research Program.

“The project will focus on increasing health literacy of tribal members and improving communication between providers and clients,” says Rogers. “The project will assess current health literacy of Crow Creek Sioux Tribe members with diabetes and current strategies that health care providers and tribal staff use to communicate diabetes information to clients,” says Rogers. Training curriculum for providers and tribal program staff will then be developed based on results of the community-wide assessments, and will include best practices for effectively communicating with patients with low health literacy, says Rogers.

The project is a collaborative effort with the Tribal Health and Diabetes Program of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe. For more information about Health Literacy Assessment and Improvement Among Crow Creek Sioux Tribe People With Diabetes, contact Rogers at maryrogers@bhsu.edu or 605-642-6615.

The Wellmark Foundation has provided nearly $12 million to fund 350 health-related grants in Iowa and South Dakota since 1997, including $574,147 this cycle. “The Wellmark Foundation collaborates with non-profit and governmental organizations in Iowa and South Dakota to build healthier communities,” says Matthew McGarvey, director of The Wellmark Foundation. “We are pleased to support this project that will take a close look at health literacy in the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe and take important steps to increase health literacy and improve health outcomes in the community,” says McGarvey.

The Wellmark Foundation is a private, non-profit foundation created by Wellmark, Inc., doing business as Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa. Visit The Wellmark Foundation's Web site at www.wellmark.com/foundation for a list of grant recipients and grant application instructions.  Applications for the next round of community responsive grants are due June 19, 2007. Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield and The Wellmark Foundation are independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.