Health Education for Life
started as a business in 1994 to provide education and training for health professionals who then would teach the WarmFeet® intervention to their clients. It also facilitated inquiries and provided answers about the new WarmFeet® technique to the public.
After specific, scientific research, the technique became a significant intervention for healing of foot sores. It increases circulation to the legs.
Ms. Rice has presented the application of the WarmFeet® research and its findings to both national and international meetings such as Center for Disease Control, Annual meetings of the American Diabetes Association, (ADA) and the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE), The Canadian Wound Care Association, workshops of the Regional AADE Chapters, Community Health organizations, American Indian Tribal organizations, University Health and Research Forums etc.
With this Online presence we are now able to provide much more information, more quickly, as well as making it easier to order the WarmFeet® Kit. We invite nurses, diabetes and health professionals to make use of this information and contact us for further help. If you need to order the WarmFeet® Kit in bulk for classes or support groups, please contact us for that information.
Health Education for Life also has been a source for many individuals who want to learn the technique and order a copy of the WarmFeet® Kit for themselves. The self-help kit offers assisted temperature biofeedback as a way of helping the person learn to relax. Seeing the change in blood flow (increased skin temperature!) after successful relaxation is a powerful medium to learn the process of increasing peripheral circulation. It is like having the teacher right there with you!
The mission of Health Education for Life
To educate people about the power of the mind-body connection. It helps them realize that their own natural direction and abilities can improve health. It presents the WarmFeet® relaxation intervention as a new natural way to improve peripheral blood flow to the feet, relieve pain, increase healing and wellness.
Journals, Papers and Presentations
by Birgitta I. Rice, MS, RPh, CHES
“Soothing techniques for painful feet and neuropathy”, DIABETES WELLNESS NEWS,United Kingdom, July 2012,
Learn to Improve Blood flow with Biofeedback Assisted Relaxation Training: The WarmFeet® Intervention, eNcouragement, Newsletter for the Minnesota Neuropathy Association, Vol. VI, Number 2, April 2009
“Integrative Interventions”, Minnesota Physician, Vol. 21, No. 2, p.26-27, 2008
“Pain in your Feet – Is it Neuropathy?” Minnesota Healthcare News, Vol. 6, No 10, p.16-17, 2008
“A Natural Technique for Improving Blood Flow”, Diabetes Explorer, Vol.2, No 3, p.50, 2007
The Obesity Epidemic and Its Effect on Kids – ADA Expo program, Minneapolis Star Tribune, 10/14, p 3, 2006
Pain in Your Legs and Feet? Diabetes Wellness News, 9/4, p.5, 2003
Mind-Body Interventions and Diabetes, Diabetes SPECTRUM, 4, p.213-217 2001
The WarmFeet® Kit. CD and/or cassette tape recording with instructions. A relaxation technique designed to improve blood flow to the feet and a thermometer for assisted biofeedback, ® and © 1997, B.I. Rice. CD version 2007.
Increased Peroneal Nerve Function in People with Diabetes Mellitus Following Biofeedback Assisted Relaxation Training. Abstract in Biofeedback and Self Regulation, Vol.9, No.3, September 1994.
Increased Healing Rate of Foot Ulcers with Thermal Biofeedback Assisted Relaxation Training (BART). DIABETES, 43/6, 1994.
Increased Peroneal Nerve Function in People with Diabetes Mellitus Following Biofeedback Assisted Relaxation Training, The Proceedings of the 25th Annual Meeting of the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, March 1994.
Increased Sensory Nerve Function of the Peroneal Nerve: Response to Biofeedback Assisted Training, DIABETES, 41/6, p.33A, 1992.
Relaxation Recording: To Increase Blood Circulation in the Feet. Copyright 1990, B.I. Rice. Audio cassette tape recording.
Effect of Biofeedback Assisted Relaxation Training on Peripheral Blood Flow in the Lower Extremities of a Population with Diabetes. Master’s Thesis, University of Wisconsin – La Crosse, WI, May 1990
VIDEO: Discussing WarmFeet Kit with Scott King, Life Coach and columnist at DiabetesHealth.com.
About the Founder – Developer
Birgitta Rice, MS, RPh, CHES originally from Sweden where she worked as a pharmacist. As she came to the United States she settled in the Midwest. After graduating with a masters degree from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse in Community Health Education (specializing in stress management), she continued with research in health, wellness and stress management at University of Wisconsin.
She realized the potential benefits of relaxation training for populations with limited circulation to their legs or with diabetes. So she created a technique designed to improve blood flow to the feet. This was later tested, with positive results, in multi-site randomized clinical trials at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She later moved her work and research to the University of Minnesota, Epidemiology Clinical Research Center in Minneapolis, MN.
Findings from using this relaxation technique together with medical care in further studies, were highly significant and positive for pain relief and wound healing. Of patients, in one such study, who practiced the relaxation, 87.5% healed their chronic foot ulcers within 12 weeks, compared to 43.7% in the control group without the relaxation technique. In a follow-up study, 5 patients with the unhealed ulcers now 3 months further along, learned the relaxation technique and they all, 100% healed their ulcers within the following 12 weeks!
Research findings have been presented nationally and in Canada. They are also published in medical journals such as, Diabetes Care, DIABETES, Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association JAPMA), The Diabetes Educator and described in several health care magazines for the general population.
Based on this work, the WarmFeet® intervention has established itself as a NEW treatment modality – an educational intervention – which increases peripheral circulation and complements standard medical care for leg, foot and wound therapies. It has been reviewed by the FDA and is an excellent method of self-help. It could well serve as a preventive intervention for peripheral arterial disease. That may be the topic for a future study.
Birgitta Rice as an author, has contributed to the following books with her expertise in diabetes and knowledge of feet:
50 Diabetes Myths That Can Ruin Your Life: And 50 Diabetes Truths That Can Save Your Life,by Riva Greenberg,
The author invited Rice to be one of the Foot Experts explaining about common and problematic foot issues. Published by Perseus Books, 2007. The book is available at Amazon.com
My Sweet Life: Successful Women with Diabetes, published by Beverly S. Adler, PhD, CDE and friends.
It is a collection of 24 life stories written by highly respected women sharing their heartwarming stories and insights of their lives with diabetes. Birgitta’s chapter is titled “Walk Fast and Look Happy”. Published by PESI HealthCare Publishing Group, 2011. It is also available at Amazon.com