The Wellmark Foundation Funds New Health Literacy Guidebook for Health Care Professionals

April 16, 2007

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Contact:
Angela Feig
515.245.4551
feigab@wellmark.com

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Wellmark Foundation awarded $87,200 in grant funds to the Iowa Health Foundation to create a health literacy staff development guidebook for health care organizations.

Integrating Health Literacy Practices into Health Care Organizations: An Implementation Guide will develop a guidebook for use by a variety of health care professionals and organizations in efforts to increase the health literacy of their clients, says Mary Ann Abrams, M.D., MPH, health management consultant at the Iowa Health System.

“This project is designed to respond to the high prevalence of low health literacy in Iowa and its adverse impact on health behaviors and outcomes,” says Abrams. “The new resource will offer guidance on staff development, capacity-building, partnering with patients and their families, and instructional system design to address health literacy through individual and organizational behavior change,” says Abrams.

The primary audience for the guidebook is health care professionals in Iowa, including physician practices, clinics, home health organizations, hospitals and large systems. However, the project team expects the guidebook to generate regional and national interest, and plans for more widespread distribution of the guidebook in the future.

For more information on Integrating Health Literacy Practices into Health Care Organizations: An Implementation Guide, contact Abrams at abramsma@ihs.org or (515) 241-3458.

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. “This guidebook will be used by hundreds of health care professionals, ultimately helping to increase the health literacy of thousands of Iowans. We are pleased to support this far-reaching project,” 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.