Information Equals Well-Being

Since its creation in 1990, the Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System (CHESS) has helped thousands cope with health crises or medical concerns. For many, it has meant the difference between living life and merely existing.

The innovative program is an Internet-based information and support system developed and housed in the Center for Health Systems Research and Analysis in the UW-Madison College of Engineering. Originally created for those with breast cancer or HIV - and designed to assess if such a network improved a patient's health and well-being - the program has expanded to include topics on heart disease, asthma, menopause, and caregiving and dementia, with others planned.

CHESS has proven to be a huge success. Studies have found that those using the breast cancer module have experienced improved functional and emotional well-being, decreased illness-related worries, and greater satisfaction with health information.

"CHESS has introduced me to a wonderful group of support people," says one patient. "Through CHESS, I have learned about the many types of breast cancer, many types of treatments, and that a support group for those of us in rural areas - where we have none - is very important to surviving breast cancer."

It was this particular study that piqued the interest of breast-cancer survivor Carol Bartz '71. Bartz, who heads Autodesk, Inc., one of the world's largest software companies, was diagnosed in 1992 on her second day on the job as chair and CEO of the San Rafael, California, company. During her first six months at Autodesk, she underwent a radical mastectomy, sold two companies, pursued an acquisition, and hired a new management team.

Bartz's ninety-seven-year-old grandmother, Alice Schwartz, also has survived breast cancer. Schwartz had a mastectomy at the age of eighty and underwent chemotherapy in her early nineties. Bartz's gift to CHESS honors Schwartz, who raised Bartz and her brother following their mother's death and was "the greatest influence" in Bartz's life. "She's been there for me all along," Bartz says.

The CHESS gift also acknowledges Bartz's work and ongoing commitment to breast-cancer support programs. The program appeals to her because it demonstrates how computer technology can help breast cancer patients deal with their disease. Today, she is actively involved with a community breast-health project in northern California. "We have a data center where women can come and do online searches," she notes. The program also provides volunteers to drive patients to doctors' appointments and chemotherapy treatments.

"People really benefit from interacting with others who are in the same circumstance," Bartz says. "Statistics show that support-group interaction is extremely important, and just giving people the power of information about their disease and the treatment possibilities available is important."

Initially funded through the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, much of the financial support for CHESS today comes from federal and private grants and from grateful donors who have benefited from the program.

- Lynne Johnson

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