FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: April, 22, 2014
CONTACT: Rebecca Normington, 715-221-9726, normington.rebecca@
MARSHFIELD – Security Health Plan of Wisconsin, Inc., has won the 2014 award for Outstanding Achievement in Health Literacy from Wisconsin Literacy, Inc.
More than 200 literacy advocates met recently at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center in Madison, for the 10th annual Celebration of Literacy. In addition to hearing about efforts around the state to foster literacy, the group presented awards to individuals and organizations promoting literacy.
“We’re very proud to receive this recognition from Wisconsin Literacy,” said Jay Shrader, assistant director of Health Services. “Our commitment to health literacy goes beyond the walls of our doctors’ offices and health care facilities, into the communities we serve. We’re focused on improving the conditions in which people are born, live and grow.”
Security Health Plan has made health literacy a focus of its Community Benefits and Prevention Program. Through its Charitable Contribution Program, the Marshfield-based insurance company has distributed the book “What to Do When Your Child Gets Sick,”to Head Start programs; Women, Infants and Child (WIC) programs; Family Resource Centers; child care centers and schools throughout its service area.
Security Health Plan has also sponsored “Ask Me for the Health of It,” a pilot program in Rusk County in which retired nurses come to senior centers and thrift stores to offer impartial health information. It’s a program that may be replicated throughout the state.
“Whether it’s providing health care information in a more readable format or trying to keep information in plain language, Security Health Plan is a leader in the insurance industry,” said Margarete Cook of Wisconsin Literacy. “By keeping health literacy as a focus, Security Health Plan is an example for others to follow.”
Wisconsin Literacy is a nonprofit coalition representing a membership of 69 community-based literacy agencies. In 2010 it launched Health Literacy Wisconsin, a new division to raise awareness of the importance of health literacy skills and foster two-way communication between health care consumers and health care providers.
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About Security Health Plan
Security Health Plan is a not-for-profit health maintenance organization, a member of the Marshfield Clinic Health System, now serving more than 225,000 residents in 40 counties of Wisconsin. Accredited by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), Security Health Plan insures employees of large and small businesses, individuals and families, and administers self-funded employer health plans.