Community Guide Use The Washington County Health Partners, Inc. (WCHP) used
The Guide to Community Preventive Services (The Community Guide) to plan and implement WellLife™, an eight-week program designed to improve nutrition, physical activity, and stress management among Washington County, Pennsylvania residents. The program added a theoretical total of 63.11 years of life among 64 participants and saved $60,180.61 in Year One as a result of reducing cardiovascular disease risk factors2. [Click the PDF icon to download the full text of this
Community Guide success story]
Implementation From June 2002 through May 2005, WCHP used
The Community Guide to implement
individually adapted health behavior change programs and
social support in community settings interventions. The Highmark Foundation-funded WellLife ™ program taught individual health and fitness lifestyle modifications to a total of 267 participants over eleven programs. Participants met during weekly sessions. WCHP encouraged participants to engage in follow-up lab testing over six and twelve month periods to measure weight, blood pressure, and glucose levels and to monitor program success.
Of the 267 participants, 114 (43%) completed the six month follow-up, and 64 (56%) completed the six and twelve month follow-ups. Reasons for the decline in participation at these periods included participants’ fear of not continuing to make significant health improvements and participants feeling the eight-week sessions were all they needed.
Outcomes
Twelve month lab results from Year One included:
- Systolic blood pressure > 140 mmhg fell from 29 (45%) participants to 14 (22%)
- Diastolic blood pressure > 90 mmhg fell from 17 (27%) participants to only 3 (5%)
- Total cholesterol > 200 mg/dl fell from 18 (56%) participants to only 8 (30%)
- HDL < 45 mg/dl for men and < 55 mg/dl for women fell from 34 (54%) participants to 26 (41%)
- LDL > 100 mg/dl fell from 13 (71%) participants to 8 (56%)
- Triglyceride > 150 mg/dl fell 37% or from 23 participants to 14 (22%)
- Fasting blood glucose > 100 mg/dl fell from 14 (43%) participants to 8 (28%)
- BMI’s 25 and over fell from 18 (84%) participants to 15 (75%)
Model Implementation
The WellLife™ Program was replicated in three community sites in Year One, five community sites in Year Two, and three community sites in Year Three. There was one tailored site for African Americans during each of those years.
WCHP also implemented the Washington Walking™ Program on June 11, 2005 to reach more community participants and sustain WellLife™ after funding ended. Washington Walking is still active.
Resulting Changes in Practice
WCHP’s Board of Directors made a resolution to use only evidenced-based strategies, such as those found in The Community Guide, to frame their programs. This resolution resulted in the elimination of some of their youth prevention programs.
Partnerships and Collaborations
WCHP formed partnerships that were critical for the successful implementation of WellLife™, which included working with the Monongahela Valley Hospital, Washington County Hospital, Canonsburg General Hospital. These collaborations resulted in lab work at reduced cost, class instructors, and free space to hold sessions.
1 63.1 years of life was calculated using the Wellsource Concise Personal Wellness Profile tool.
2Risk factors include physical activity, poor nutrition, overweight and obesity, and perceived stress.
Washington County Health Partners, Inc. (2007). Final Report. Campaign for Community Health: Community Wellness Partnership, 1, 41.