Living Well in the Community

What is Living Well in the Community?

Living Well in the Community (LWC), formerly known as Living Well with a Disability (LWD), is a ten-week wellness workshop for people with disabilities that helps participants achieve full participation through health maintenance and health promotion activities. The workshop introduces participants to a process for setting and clarifying goals and teaches how to generate, implement, and monitor solutions to problems. Goal setting and problem solving are the frameworks for developing healthy lifestyles and linking health with function. When appropriate, individuals are encouraged to consider health behavior as one tool for increasing participation. Living Well in the Community puts quality-of-life issues at the forefront and teaches participants to:

Link health to quality of life
Set goals and solve problems
Manage frustration and discouragement
Seek information
Develop and maintain healthy relationships
Eat well and be physically active
Advocate for themselves and for systems change
Maintain healthy lifestyle changes

**What does Living Well do for people?**

Participants report improvements in outlook and positive changes in daily activities, such as new employment, returning to school, or more active social lives.
Many participants report the session on systems advocacy as their first exposure to disability rights advocacy.
Individuals who participated in Living Well also report fewer limitations due to secondary health conditions and reduced health care costs.

To attend a Living Well in the Community workshop, contact a Montana Center for Independent Living

Facilitate a Living Well in the Community workshop

Visit the Living Well in the Community consumer workshop website

Program Reports

Living Well with a Disability Improves Health and Saves Money, Success Story, 2016
Community Activated Living Well: A Guide for Implementing the Living Well with a Disability Health Promotion Workshop for Community Members who have Disabilities, 2005
Living Well and Medicaid: Better Health for Consumers, Lower Costs for States: Research Progress Report #23, July 2004
Living Well with a Disability: An update: Research Progress Report #19, February 2004
Living well could save $31 million: Research Progress Report #7, June 2001
Cost-effectiveness of Living Well: Preliminary Research Progress Report #6, November 1999

For more information about the Living Well in the Community program, please contact the Healthy Community Living team at:

healthycommunityliving@mso.umt.edu

406-243-4256