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LifeCare® CD-ROM Awarded Innovation Prize
by Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Partnership
WESTPORT, Conn., July 26, 2004 – LifeCare, Inc.'s “Preparing
to Breastfeed” course on CD-ROM has been awarded a 2004 Silver Innovation award
by The Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Partnership (CQIA), which holds
an annual competition to recognize excellence in Connecticut organizations.
LifeCare's CD-ROM was one of more than 100 entries judged by 15 Baldrige-trained
CQIA examiners. Developed in conjunction with Cisco Systems, the worldwide leader
in networking for the Internet, the CD-ROM was designed to help organizations
deliver breastfeeding education to large, widely dispersed or highly mobile
employee populations, thus reducing the costs of employee training and eliminating
typical training schedule conflicts.
“CQIA Innovation Prize award winners embody the critical intellect
that is the foundation of Connecticut's long-term growth,” says Sheila Carmine,
Founder and Executive Director of the Connecticut Quality Improvement Award
Partnership. “Prize winners are focused on helping humanity and improving our
lives with novel and superior products and services.”
CQIA will present the 2004 Silver Innovation Award to LifeCare
in October at its 17th annual conference on Quality and Innovation. CQIA runs
three levels of state awards programs throughout the year in an effort to prepare
Connecticut corporations for the Malcolm Baldrige national quality Award for
Performance Excellence.
“We're enormously pleased to receive this prestigious award,”
notes LifeCare CEO and co-founder, Peter G. Burki. “The merits of CQIA and the
fact that this award is related to innovation are particularly meaningful to
me and to the LifeCare team, since our focus during the past 20 years has been
squarely on innovation and quality.” Burki added that he believes that employers
everywhere will find the CD-ROM an especially timely tool, as the U.S. government
has recently launched a year-long national awareness campaign designed to help
the public better understand the significant health benefits that breastfeeding
provides to mothers and babies.
The “Preparing to Breastfeed” CD-ROM allows individuals to
confidentially access vital breastfeeding information in the privacy of their
own home or office whenever it's most convenient for them. LifeCare is also
the creator of Mothers at Work®, the world's leading workplace
breastfeeding program, which provides prenatal education, 24/7 counseling from
lactation consultants, insightful educational materials, and a variety of products
that enable working women to better manage the challenge of breastfeeding and
working.
“The key to successful breastfeeding is education,” says Carol
Ann Friedman, R.N., IBCLC, who heads up Mothers at Work, “and the CD-ROM course
is one more option for learning that we're giving employees. The more support,
including education, new mothers and fathers receive the more likely they are
to follow through on their decision to breastfeed newborns.” According to Friedman,
an August 2002 national mothers' opinion survey conducted by Fairbanks, Maslin,
Maullin & Associates, revealed that “returning to work” was the number
one reason why mothers chose not to breastfeed long-term.
The CQIA's 2004 Silver Innovation award is the sixth award
that the LifeCare's CD-ROM has won since its release in 2003. The previous awards
include: a 2004 Clarion Award from The Association for Women in Communications;
a 2004 Crystal Award of Distinction from the Communicator Awards Association;
a 2004 Award of Distinction from The Videographer Awards Association; a Gold
Mercury Award and a Grand Award from the International Academy of Communications
Arts & Sciences.
Notes to Editors
Peter Burki and Carol Ann Friedman are available for interview.
LifeCare®, Inc. is one of the largest privately
owned employee benefits organizations in the U.S. and the exclusive provider
of Life Event Management® Services. With 20 years of experience
in delivering highly personalized counseling, education and referral services,
LifeCare helps employees manage the day-to-day challenges of their lives. In
turn, LifeCare helps employers improve employee commitment, recruitment, retention
and workplace productivity. LifeCare currently serves 1,000 client companies
with four million individuals within health plans, governmental agencies, unions
and corporations. For more information, visit www.lifecare.com.
Media contact: Jim Derivan
LifeCare, Inc.
pr1@lifecare.com
203-291-4196
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