FEATURE/Exploring New Frontiers in E-Learning: LifeCare Offers Nontraditional Courses to Provide Business Results; Breastfeeding CD-ROM, Produced with Cisco Systems, Wins Award.

Feature Editors/Business Editors

FEATURE...

WESTPORT, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 27, 2004

-E-learning isn't just for basic job skills training anymore! LifeCare(R), Inc., the exclusive provider of Life Event Management(R) Services, is opening up the boundaries of corporate America's traditional e-learning curriculum by addressing a variety of alternative topics, including Coping with Change in the Workplace; Stress Management; Managing Work and Life; Budgeting Basics--to name a few. In fact, the company now offers clients monthly "live webinars"--work/life seminars hosted by subject matter experts and delivered via its web site--along with a library of archived seminars that can be accessed online 24/7.

"Very few employers have used e-learning technology to provide training on work/life issues, family matters and personal development--and that's a lost opportunity," says LifeCare co-founder and CEO, Peter G. Burki. "Now more employers are realizing that offering training in these areas is a great way to boost employee satisfaction and loyalty levels, and it also helps to raise employee effectiveness on-the-job. After viewing our 40-minute online Adult Care course, for instance, a worker who is caring for an aging parent will be far more capable of effectively managing her job responsibilities and caregiving duties. So this type of cost-effective and confidential training benefits her, her loved one, and her employer."

LifeCare's e-learning offerings also include courses on prenatal  planning, parenting, retirement and estate planning, and healthy lifestyles. In 2003, requests for the online seminars increased by 77 percent. The company plans to expand its e-learning offerings in 2004, drawing from the 90+ work/life seminars it currently provides to clients via live instructors and traditional classroom settings.

"It's hard to beat the cost-effectiveness, the convenience, and the reduced administrative burden on HR staffs that these e-learning programs provide," says Burki. "Employers interested in boosting the vitality of their employee training programs should definitely consider a shot of vitamin 'e'--e-learning, that is."

    The top-10 most popularly requested LifeCare seminars in 2003
    were:

    1) Coping With Change in the Workplace

    2) Stress Management

    3) Managing Work and Life

    4) Building Better Relationships Through Effective Communication

    5) Parenting Your School Aged Child

    6) Communicating with Your Older Loved One

    7) Pursuing a Graduate or Continuing Education Program

    8) Budgeting Basics

    9) Strategies for Healthy Meal Planning

    10) Before- and After-School Care

Breastfeeding CD-ROM Gains Recognition

Naturally, not all of LifeCare's client employees have web access in their homes, and some clients simply don't offer web-based work/life services to their employees at all. But that hasn't stopped LifeCare from taking these clients' training needs into consideration. Together with Cisco Systems, Inc., the worldwide leader of Internet technology, the company recently produced a breastfeeding course that has been converted to CD-ROM, entitled: Preparing to Breastfeed: What You Need to Know Before Birth. This innovative tool has earned a 2003 Gold Mercury Award from MerComm, Inc., the International Academy of Communications Arts & Sciences. The Gold Mercury Award is MerComm's top-level award in its "CD-ROM Education" category and will be presented to LifeCare and Cisco at an awards ceremony on February 27.

This interactive breastfeeding course addresses issues that have never been taught outside of a classroom or hospital and it affords expecting parents the convenience of learning about this highly personal issue in the privacy of their own home. A long-time champion of using technology to better facilitate learning, Cisco has helped to give the course an extremely interactive quality, making viewers feel as though they're participating in a virtual classroom presentation with LifeCare's Mothers at Work(R) workplace director Carol Ann Friedman, R.N. and certified lactation consultant.

"Breastfeeding education is key to being able to successfully breastfeed," says Friedman. "Breastfeeding is not an innate ability; therefore, having access to accurate prenatal and postnatal information is a tremendous help to expectant and new mothers--and parents. Learning how often to breastfeed your baby, how a breastfed baby gains weight, or the process of milk collection and storage are just a few topics that new mothers need to know." The course also covers such topics as: how to assemble and clean a breastpump; breastfeeding frequency and duration; preparing to return to work; and much more.

"There's a real need for education on this subject matter and in this format," says Burki, who is now offering the CD-ROM to LifeCare clients. "Women with infants and toddlers are the fastest growing segment of the workforce. And, while, more women are choosing to breastfeed because of the health benefits to themselves and their babies, this issue is also their number one obstacle to returning to work. The convenience of the CD-ROM enables more employers to offer the information employees need to make a knowledgeable decision on breastfeeding and follow through with it. "By helping new mothers follow-through with their decision to breastfeed and transition successfully back to work, employers benefit from decreased absenteeism and turnover and the potential for reduced medical costs," says Burki.

Cisco also plans to make the content of the course available to a wider audience through one of its community outreach partners, One Economy, which will host the content on its own portal. In addition, Cisco has had the content translated into Spanish.

Notes to Editors

-- Peter Burki is available for interview.

-- LifeCare, Inc.(R) is one of the largest privately owned

employee benefits organizations in the U.S. and the exclusive

provider of Life Event Management(R) 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.