Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/100910
mending HEALTH CARE Beth Gaytan: Building literacy to improve health Lilada Gee: Giving teen moms a helping hand Childhood traumas can leave a lifetime of scars, but they can also change your path. Lilada Gee knows this well. She was just 6 years old the first time a family member sexually abused her, but she found healing in using her experiences to help others. When the founder of Lilada���s Living Room learned 70 percent of babies born to teen girls are fathered by men over the age of 20, she opened Lilada���s House for Teen Mothers, which welcomed its first mothers this month. ��� ���We do not do a very good job of serving these young women and their babies. Many teen mothers are among the undocumented homeless; they are underage and move with their child from home to home. Often these young mothers were abused and raised by mothers who were also abused, which puts their children at risk for abuse. I realized if I wanted to impact child sexual abuse, this was the perfect population to work with. This home offers young mothers a safe place to heal and to live, where they can create new opportunities for themselves and their children.��� ���RG 44 BRAVA Magazine January 2013 Poor literacy skills lead to medication misuse, unnecessary emergency room visits, bad nutrition and more���a problem that racks up an estimated $433 million price tag annually in Dane County. Beth Gaytan, director of Literacy Network���s awardwinning Health Literacy program, is leading the charge to give patients the tools they need to turn this trend around. The Literacy Network partners with area health care organizations to offer 12-week Health Literacy courses. These classes guide those with language barriers through the complex health care system. They teach students how to talk to nurses and doctors, fill out medical forms, read nutrition labels and adopt healthier lifestyles. ���We are trying to create responsible and empowered patients,��� Gaytan says. ���If our students learn to use the system correctly, it saves money, resources, and helps them have better health outcomes.��� After just five years, Gaytan���s program is being held up as model for others to emulate. The Literacy Network has teamed with ProLiteracy in developing a nationwide replication model. Gaytan also recently developed an English for Health Part II course to further build students��� health literacy. Eliminating language barriers as patients navigate the complex health care system can have far-reaching results that include better health outcomes and improved health overall. ���RG Amy Meinen: Working to curtail obesity She calls it the health issue of our time���and she���s referring to obesity. Meet Amy Meinen, the director of the Wisconsin Obesity Prevention Network at UW Hospitals and Clinics. In this capacity, Meinen seeks to form partnerships that help cut obesity to its core. Farm to School, a program which brings locally grown veggies and fruits into the school system; Active Early, which is designed to get school children moving; and Healthy Bites, which explores better nutrition in early childhood settings; are just a sampling of partnerships already making headway. Why is obesity one of the timeliest issues of our generation? Right now 64 percent of Wisconsin���s adult population, 25 percent of our high schoolers, and 31 percent of our children under 5 are overweight or obese. How do these numbers impact health care costs? Tackling our obesity rates has the potential to save Wisconsin billions. In 2008, Wisconsin spent more than $1.6 billion on health care costs related to obesity. If we don���t address it, that figure is expected to rise to $6.7 billion by 2018. How will the Wisconsin Obesity Prevention Network address obesity? We are working to create environments that make it easier for individuals to make healthier choices; be it schools, work sites, childcare centers, grocery stores or restaurants. We need to get together to address this issue. Parents have a role, schools have a role, legislatures have a role, business owners have a role. I see my role as dot connector. I look at the big picture, see the connections that need to be made, and then find a way to make them. ���RG