Six Teams Selected from Across Wisconsin to Participate in the Healthy Wisconsin Leadership Institute

Contact: Marion Ceraso, (608) 265-6405, mceraso@wisc.edu

Maureen Mack, (414) 955-4700, mmack@mcw.edu

MADISON/MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Six teams from across Wisconsin were selected to participate in a year-long leadership training program that will help prepare them to address their communities’ most pressing health concerns.

Participants in the Healthy Wisconsin Leadership Institute’s 2012-2013 Community Teams Program will address poverty, obesity, underage drinking, chronic disease and youth suicide. Teams receive training and technical assistance in collaborative leadership and community and public health skills from state and national experts as they tackle their community health priorities.

Teams come together three times during the program for workshops held in central locations and also participate in webinars and receive in-community technical assistance.

Participants in the 2012-2013 program represent multiple public and private sectors and community members, including health care and human service providers, faith community members, tribal nation members, active transportation advocates, local business people, community residents, public health agency representatives, academics, and public officials.

“Communities that participate in the Healthy Wisconsin Leadership Institute report increasing engagement of their community leadership, expansion of preventive services, increased media coverage, strengthened community coalitions, and increased grant funding,” Dr. Robert Golden, dean of the UW School of Medicine and Public Health said.  “We look forward to seeing similar success from this year’s impressive group of selected teams.”

The UW School of Medicine and Public Health (UW SMPH) is partnering with the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) in its support of the Healthy Wisconsin Leadership Institute.

“Engagement at the community level enhances the collaborative spirit of the Wisconsin Partnership Program and Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin,” Dr. Joseph E. Kerschner, dean of the medical school and executive vice president of MCW, said. “These teams work within their communities to address the most pressing health issues in Wisconsin.”

The 2012-2013 community teams are:

• The Burnett County Poverty Task Force: reducing poverty as a health improvement strategy in Burnett County
• Jefferson County and Fort Health Care: addressing adult and childhood obesity in Jefferson County
• Jackson County’s AACTION (Alcohol Awareness Community Team Influencing our Neighbors): reducing underage drinking in Jackson County
• Northwoods LEAN (Linking Education, Activity, and Nutrition): increasing physical activity and improving nutrition to reduce and manage chronic disease in Oneida and Vilas Counties
• Statewide Active Communities Team: multiple communities across Wisconsin working together to create infrastructure improvements that encourage increased physical activity
• Youth Suicide Prevention Task Force: communities of Wittenberg, Birnamwood, and the Ho-Chunk tribe addressing mental health needs and preventing youth suicide

The Community Teams Program is one component of the Healthy Wisconsin Leadership Institute, a joint program of the UW SMPH and MCW.  The program is funded through the Wisconsin Partnership Program and Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin.  The Institute is co-led by Dr. Peter Layde, of MCW and Karen Timberlake of the UW SMPH.