Resources
Contact
Tom Shanahan
Public Information Officer
Dept of Health & Welfare
208-334-0668
Page Options
February 1, 2010
Healthwise Donates Popular Spanish-Language Self-Care Guides To Idaho Nutrition Program
Healthwise has donated 5,000 copies of La salud en casa: Guía práctica de Healthwise, the Spanish-language version of the popular Healthwise® Handbook, to the Women, Infant and Children Nutrition Program (WIC) in Idaho. The gift is equivalent to a $50,000 donation.
The self-care guides directly mirror the 17th edition of the English-language Healthwise Handbook, which provides helpful information on more than 200 common health problems. The handbook is a convenient resource for helping Spanish-speaking families:
- Make informed decisions about medical home treatment.
- Decide when to call a doctor.
- Manage chronic diseases such as diabetes and asthma.
- Learn more about childhood immunizations and recommended health screenings for their families.
“La salud en casa fills a void for many of our Spanish-speaking families with young children, providing them with helpful information and empowering them to effectively deal with medical concerns and improve their health,” says Carolyn Conner, State WIC Program Manager. “With the quality information Healthwise provides, many of our families can be better equipped to use medicines effectively, work more closely with their doctors and dietitians, and avoid unnecessary emergency room visits.”
WIC is a supplemental nutrition-based program for low-income families with young children and for low-income pregnant women. The program serves over 45,000 people a month and offers nutritional assessment and grocery store vouchers for healthy foods. In 2009, those healthy-food vouchers averaged $54 a month. Idaho’s public health districts administer the WIC program in communities and will distribute the handbooks.
“We are happy to have this opportunity to support Spanish-speaking families through Idaho’s WIC program,” says Don Kemper, Healthwise CEO. “Helping people make better health decisions is our passion.”
Healthwise is a nonprofit organization founded in 1975 with a mission to help people make better health decisions. The Idaho-based company has distributed more than 33 million self-care guides. Its online products are available on the Web sites of the country’s top health plans, hospitals, disease management companies, and health portals. In the past year people used Healthwise information nearly 120 million times to help them make important health decisions. Idahoans can purchase a Healthwise Handbook at www.healthwise.org and can use the online Healthwise Knowledgebase at www.saintalphonsus.org and at www.stlukesonline.org.
For additional information about the WIC program, please visit:
