Disabilities, Disparities, and Health Interventions: Implementing and Evaluating the WBH Curriculum

The Women Be Healthy (WBH) curriculum, designed by The North Carolina Office on Disability and Health, Frank Porter and Graham Child Development Institute, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was implemented in Montana to promote program development and to increase partnerships between the Montana Disability and Health Program (MTDH), the Montana Centers for Independent Living (CILs), the Bridger Clinic and Planned Parenthood of Montana. WBH is a health care education program for women with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities. This workshop focuses on sensitive reproductive health topics such as breast and cervical cancer screenings and encourages each woman to be an active participant in her own healthcare. This workshop aimed to educate participants about reproductive health, reduce fear and anxiety associated with medical procedures and to teach assertiveness in the medical setting. A number of program development efforts included: 1) Tele-conference master training where materials were developed and disseminated to facilitators electronically prior to the training. Women Be Healthy Facilitators were trained on how to recruit, evaluate, organize and conduct the workshop; 2) A follow-up self study by facilitators to educate themselves on the WBH material; 3) Carrying out participant recruitment; 4) Tracking pre and post class web-based evaluations; 5) A post-class participant assessment of the course; 5) Co-authoring a manuscript with the CIL facilitators on the results of WBH in Montana. Outcomes, evaluation results, and future directions will be presented and discussed.