The Wellmark Foundation Funds Five Health Improvement Projects in Iowa

October 8, 2007

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Contact:
Angela Feig
515.245.4551
feigab@wellmark.com

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Wellmark Foundation funded five health improvement grants in Iowa totaling $225,148 at its recent board of directors meeting. Organizations receiving grants in the designated health priority areas include:

Depression

• A $26,500 grant will allow the AIDS Project of Central Iowa in Des Moines to develop a mental health and counseling program for persons living with HIV/AIDS in central Iowa. The program will strive to improve health literacy in the area of depression and help clients overcome barriers to accessing mental health services in their communities.

• A $66,183 grant will allow Visiting Nurse Services to create a postpartum depression education program for women in central Iowa. The program will be created and implemented in cooperation with four hospitals and clinics located in Des Moines. The program will include training, high-risk screening and assessment, counseling and more.

End-of-Life Care

• The Siouxland Human Investment Partnership in Sioux City received a $48,233 grant to develop a pediatric comfort care pilot program in northwest Iowa. The program will provide palliative care, pain management and community support services to seriously ill children and their families.

Health Literacy

• The Healthy Linn Care Network in Cedar Rapids received a $33,702 grant to continue a health literacy project in Linn County. Two previous grants from The Wellmark Foundation supported the Network’s launch of the project in 2005 and implementation of the second phase in 2006. The third phase of the project will develop educational strategies for specific populations challenged by health literacy issues.

• The Iowa Healthcare Collaborative in Des Moines received a $50,530 grant to develop a health care campaign promoting improved patient and provider communication. The campaign will promote improved communication through the use of the MedCard, a folded information sheet housed in a billfold-sized plastic sleeve. The card is designed to help patients keep track of their medications and to encourage more frequent and effective communication with their health care providers.

The Wellmark Foundation has provided more than $12.77 million to fund 374 health-related grants in Iowa and South Dakota since 1997, including a total of $1,854,175 to date in 2007. “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 these projects that will recognize and treat depression, improve end-of-life care and services, and increase health literacy in communities across the state,” 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. Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield and The Wellmark Foundation are independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.