Free health screening for heart disease and stroke risk factors and lifestyle education

(Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluation for Women Across the Nation) WISEWOMAN is a CDC-funded program that helps underinsured, low-income women gain access to health screenings and lifestyle education that can reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. WISEWOMAN is an expansion of the National Early Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Project (NBCCCEDP), known in Missouri as the Show Me Healthy Women program.

To be eligible for WISEWOMAN services, women must be participants in the Show Me Healthy Women breast and cervical cancer control project and meet the program’s age (35-64 years) and income guidelines.  WISEWOMAN screening services are provided at the same office visit with the Show Me Healthy Women screenings.

WISEWOMAN services include annual screenings that measure blood pressure, total cholesterol, HDL, blood glucose, and height and weight for body mass index (BMI). Risk counseling interprets each woman’s screening results and explains her risk for heart disease and stroke. WISEWOMAN lifestyle education helps each woman identify changes she is ready to make, helps her set realistic goals, and provides resources and tools to help her make these changes. 

Lifestyle behaviors targeted include increasing physical activity, improving diet, and smoking cessation. The Missouri WISEWOMAN education program uses an education manual that was adapted from A New Leaf: Choices for Healthy Living developed by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Spanish translation titled Corazón de la Familia (Heart of the Family).