Congratulations on a great start for 2012!   I hope this newsletter provides you with information you need to support you in your evidence-based prevention program leadership role. In addition, the launch of WIHA's website will help you stay connected and up-to-date with program changes.

WIHA Website   

Have you visited our new website yet?  If not, take a peek.  Find us at wihealthyaging.org.  

All of the materials, protocols, forms, etc., you need to run your workshop are posted on the site.  To find them, click on "Programs and Services," then on either Living Well or Stepping On, and finally on "For Workshop Leaders and Coordinators" where you will need these passwords to get in:  

Username: leaders @wihealthyaging.org 

Password:  wihaleaders

Let us know what you think.   What works well?  What's challenging?  What should we add to it next?

The Wisconsin Institute for Healthy Aging (WIHA) is launching this Leader Newsletter to help keep you informed about what's happening around Wisconsin regarding evidence-based prevention programs for older adults. 

As we start the new year, we want to again take this opportunity to thank you for your great work in 2011. Thanks to your commitment, there were 123 Living Well and 33 Tomando Control de su Salud workshops in Wisconsin in 2011, providing the program to over 1,300 participants in 35 counties. For Stepping On, there were 100 workshops in Wisconsin in 2011, providing the program to 787 participants in 38 counties.  Together, let's aim for even higher in 2012!   

We also like to announce that the Wisconsin Evidence-Based Prevention Program Coordinating Committee is now meeting monthly (see below).  If you have any issues you'd like the committee to address, please contact WIHA.

We hope this first issue of our quarterly Leader newsletter will be informative for you. We've provided links in several places to "What's New" pages on our website to provide you with more detailed information.  If you have ideas or suggestions for information you would like to see in this newsletter, please let us know.     

Go to the WIHA website to get your "Planning and Implementation Checklist" and your "Workshop Notification form"  (located in the password-protected "For Workshop Leaders & Coodinators" sections of the site).  Send completed forms on to us so we can promote your workshop on the website.    

Need help organizing and scheduling your workshop?  Having trouble filling your workshop?  Finding a guest expert for Stepping On?  Figuring out how to pay for snacks or get your display ready?  Forgot part of the training?  How should you deal with a particularly tricky participant?  What should you expect at your fidelity coaching session?

Living Well Licensure

In January, we e-mailed out a copy of the Living Well and Tomando license that was issued to WIHA workshop leaders.  If you didn't receive it, e-mail kelly.johnson@wihealthyaging.org to get a copy.  It's mostly legalese about the arrangement between Stanford and WIHA, so don't worry about understanding the details.  It just indicates that WIHA, the three area agencies on aging, and Core El Centro are the current agencies authorized to operate Living Well and Tomando under WIHA's license.  

Please print out a hard copy of the license and include it in your Leader Manual. If you have trouble opening it or don't have access to a compatible printer, just contact us and we'll send one out.  We will also send a stack of the licenses to Local Coordinators who can also give you a hard copy.  

Living Well workbook available on CD 

Did you know that the Living Well program supports a CD book-on-tape version of the Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions workbook? The CD audio-book set, available for $30, may be helpful for some of your participants who have limited literacy or vision.   If your program would like to obtain an audio-set to have on hand, please contact WIHA.

Living Well available as an on-line program

Better Choices, Better Health is an online chronic disease self-management program promoted by the National Council on Aging (NCOA) and supported by grant funds.  The program is available at no cost for the first 1,500 participants to sign up. For more information, visit Better Choices, Better Health.    

Living Well Translation Materials    

To accommodate participants with diverse backgrounds,  we have obtained Living Well workshop materials translated for French- and Somali- speaking participants.  In addition, the Spanish version of the program, Tomando Control de su Salud, is now available in seven counties with materials readily available for Spanish-speaking participants.  To see a complete list of the languages available, please visit the Stanford Patient Education website. If you need materials in a language other that English that has been supported by Stanford, please contact WIHA.

Stepping On Expands to Other States

Did you know that Wisconsin holds the exclusive North American license for Stepping On? We provide training for Leaders from other states - some of them even have their own Master Trainers so that they can keep spreading Stepping On in their own states.   

Read more on our "What's New" website page. 

We've formed an EBPP Coordinating Committee to review our data on locations and numbers of workshops, leaders and participants, review results, monitor the fidelity coaching session results, determine the need for more Leader Trainings, mentors and coaches, materials needed, etc. We welcome your thoughts. If there's an issue related to evidence-based prevention programs you'd like us to address, please let us know by calling (608) 243-5691 or e-mail betsy.abramson@wihealthyaging.org 

Meet our Partners & Coordinating Committee  

WIHA has completed its transition to a permanent Board. It's a hard-working and impressive group and we look forward to having you all become better acquainted.    

Meet our Board & Staff