Wellmark Foundation Grant to Support Diabetes Education and Prevention Program in Black Hawk County

April 16, 2007

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Contact:
Angela Feig
515.245.4551
feigab@wellmark.com

(Des Moines, Iowa) – A $45,788 grant from The Wellmark Foundation will allow the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) Foundation in Cedar Falls to pilot a diabetes education and prevention program in Black Hawk County.

Fitness Plus: A Community Focused Program to Enhance Diabetes Self Management, will work to improve the health-related behaviors and health status of individuals with impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes, says Oksana Matvienko, Ph.D., assistant professor of nutrition at UNI’s School of Health, Physical Education and Leisure Services.

According to Matvienko, the pilot program is a modified version of the National Institutes of Health Diabetes Prevention Program. “We hope to determine whether the Fitness Plus program is effective in helping participants achieve a weight loss of at least 7 percent and adhere to a minimum of 150 minutes a week of moderate intensity physical exercise,” says Matvienko.

The program includes 24 weeks of core education and 24 weeks of maintenance. Follow-up visits, telephone calls and other activities are incorporated to help participants maintain positive behavioral changes. Long-term plans are to make the Fitness Plus program available to all residents of Black Hawk County and adjacent communities, says Matvienko.

The program will be implemented in collaboration with UNI’s School of Health, Physical Education and Leisure Services, Covenant Clinic, and Northeast Iowa Family Medicine Residency. For more information about Fitness Plus: A Community Focused Program to Enhance Diabetes Self Management, contact Matvienko at oksana.matvienko@uni.edu or
(319) 273-3613.

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, which is aimed at improving the health of Black Hawk County residents with diabetes or at risk for developing the condition,” 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.