Wisconsin Women's Health Foundation

Outreach, education, and screening - the Wisconsin Women's Health Foundation (wwhf) provides Women's Health services and education for women and families. We have statewide programs in all 72 Wisconsin counties. The wwhf services and research initiatives are rooted in evidenced-based prevention of the diseases and conditions that most impact Wisconsin Women's Health. Grapevine partners with nurses and community Health education specialists (ches) who volunteer to conduct educational sessions in their communities. Partners bring Health education and resources to rural and underserved individuals throughout Wisconsin and connect individuals to the Health resources within their own community. The goal of grapevine is to educate about chronic disease prevention and healthy lifestyle changes. There were 1,316 people who attended a grapevine session. The units we have for grapevine include cancer, diabetes prevention, dementia, heart Health, mental Health, self-care, coping with stress, sleep, nutrition, bone Health, and breast/gynecologic Health). Wwhf also holds annual events, which may include workshops, exhibits, lectures, Health screenings, and educational materials. All programming in this category works to connect individuals to local Health resources. We publish a newsletter twice a year and email monthly newsletters which feature articles on a variety of Health topics, program updates and success stories, grants and award recognition, and donor recognition. Wwhf also works with the Wisconsin well woman program/wisewoman programs on education, screening, and connecting women with resources in the areas of breast and cervical cancer, ms, and cardiovascular disease. The wwhf is a community partner on two projects, mammographic quality initiative & collaborative work group project, aimed at improving cancer disparities across Wisconsin. These projects were created by a transdisciplinary group, the community & cancer science network, to explore and solve preventable differences in breast and lung cancer. The wwwf also created and operates the well badger program. Well badger is a Health information and referral service, in partnership with the wi department of Health services, connecting people in Wisconsin to resources. Well badger provides an online, dynamic directory of over 7,500 services, programs, and resources. Our team regularly updates and creates new content and resources to address unmet needs. There were 26,768 people who used the well badger directory. The program has a children's mental Health navigator tool for parents, which was used by 668 people. In addition, they provide one-on-one connection through certified i&r specialists and offer six confidential ways to connect. All i&r staff are airs certified, a professional program for individuals working within the i&r sector of human services. They are trained to establish rapport, conduct an assessment, provide an informed choice of referrals, engage in follow-up and if required, provide advocacy or crisis intervention. The well badger i&r specialists handled 3,153 cases and made over 16,515 referrals.

Research, community, and grants - the Wisconsin Women's Health Foundation provides scholarships and grants to researchers, women faculty scholars, and other community non-profits.

Pregnancy programs - the first breath program is Wisconsin's program to help pregnant, postpartum, and caregiving individuals make positive changes to their tobacco, alcohol and substance use during pregancy and beyond. First breath Health educators, provide comprehensive services to help participants stop or reduce their use of tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, and other substances. Services are participant-centered and use a strengths-based, harm reduction approach. The program is free, and provides individualized face-to-face, phone, and text-based services. First breath partnered with 281 healthcare sites across the state who use the ask-advise-refer model. Sites currently include local public Health departments, private healthcare providers, federally funded community Health centers, and tribal Health clinics. A total of 868 individuals were referred during 2023.