Living Well: Promoting Health Management Skills and Independence Through the Implementation of Living Well in the Community Workshops
Project Description:
WIND will recruit five sites to implement a health promotion workshop called Living Well in the Community (formerly known as Living Well with a Disability). Participants for the workshop will be individuals with developmental disabilities and their families to learn skills to manage a healthy and independent lifestyle. There are eleven in-person or virtual sessions to provide participants with tools for managing health, making healthy lifestyle choices, increasing physical activity, improving nutrition, and supporting healthy relationships.
This workshop is important because 24 percent of the Wyoming population has a disability (CDC). Individuals with developmental disabilities experience greater health challenges than individuals without developmental disabilities. These challenges include more heart disease, obesity, diabetes, asthma, and high blood pressure. Individuals with developmental disabilities also report more depression, exercise less, and smoke more. Because Wyoming is a rural state, it makes accessing necessary care and resources more difficult. Not only do these health challenges affect quality of life, disability healthcare costs in Wyoming total about 1.4 billion dollars, which is about 31 percent, of the state's healthcare spending (CDC).
Living Well in the Community workshops will be led by facilitators at the community sites. WIND has partnered with the Healthy Community Living Program at the University of Montana Rural Institute to train the facilitators. WIND will provide ongoing support to help the facilitators plan the workshop, form a steering committee, and provide technical support. WIND will create a webpage on its website to serve as a resource for facilitators and participants to access resources and learn about the workshops. Sites that offer workshops will receive a stipend that can be used for various needs.
Keyword(s):
Developmental Disabilities, Community, Health
Core Function(s):
Continuing Education/Community Training, Other Direct/Model Services
Area of Emphasis
Health-Related Activities, Housing-Related Activities, Quality of Life
Target Audience:
Family Members/Caregivers, Adults with Disabilities
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Geographic Areas, Rural/Remote
Primary Target Audience Geographic Descriptor:
State
COVID-19 Related Data:
N/A
