Posts from — November 2010

Individual Advantages of Fitness

Do you want to get fit, lose excess fat, or have more energy?  Most individuals  would answer “yes” to this question. It’s hard to imagine why anybody would not want to achieve fitness in order to become a healthier person.

If you’re overweight or obese, have a family history of heart disease or diabetes, have high cholesterol or blood pressure, or simply feel that you could be a healthier you, then you could benefit  from a fitness program.

Regular exercise is an easy way to help prevent many diseases by eliminating the major risk factors such as obesity and lack of movement.  A combination of aerobic exercise and weight training is the best way to achieve your fitness objectives while bettering your health.

When selecting  a fitness program, the most challenging aspect may  be finding an activity or exercise that is fun as opposed to one that doesn’t motivate you.

Person are motivated in different ways which is why there are so many exercise programs out there. If you attempt something that you do not like, you can always move on and attempt something different until you discover a certain activity that appeals to you.

A lot of times, person create their own plans for exercise but lose interest in the health promotion program and therefore find themselves steering away from their good intentions.  This is why a wellness coach might  be exactly what an individual needs for keep them on the right track to achieve fitness for life.

Just how a Health Coach can make it Possible

Health coaches are trained professionals that assist customers in achieving fitness for life in a variety of ways. a personal can hire a fitness trainer to work with them at the health club and help them with their fitness goals; however, a health coach does a great deal more to help their customers reach success.

A wellness coach uses a health risk assessment to determine the individual needs of the client and uses this information to develop a at action for their fitness plan.  Because everybody has unique fitness goals, each fitness program is customized to fit the needs of the client.

A health coach not only excites you to achieve your fitness goals but also teaches you to motivate yourself.

Health coaches understand that individuals  have busy lives and require convenient ways to exercise.  That is why a wellness coach develops personalized wellness programs that’ll work with an individual’s busy schedule.

They are also available 24 hours a day through online communication and hold sessions as often or as little as the patron needs. Health coaches may assist their patrons by telephone, e-mail and instant messaging, or face-to-face meetings.

Despite the fact that health Coaches focus on other aspects of a person’s wellness like nutrition, stress management, and sleep management, it is imperative that you understand that each of these aspects of a health promotion program intertwine to assist a individuals in becoming the healthiest individuals they can be.

Before you call it quits and decide to give up on having a healthier lifestyle, you might want to consider what a wellness coach can do for you. A lot of individuals  get so frustrated working out on their own that they give up before they really have a chance to succeed.

Luckily, by hiring a wellness coach you are able to avoid this issue, and end up with the body that you’ve been dreaming of. But before you jump forward too far, you need to know what a wellness coach is as well as what one can do for you.

Normally speaking, a wellness coach is a fitness trainer, dietician, and much more all rolled into one. While this might sound like an impossible job on the surface, the fact of the matter is that wellness Coaches are very good at what they do.

These experts have many years of experience in the health industry, and have a knack for communicating what they know to others on a very personal level.

The primary goal of any wellness coach is to work with you so that you can reach the objectives that you have set forth for yourself.  And guess what?

If you do not know what you want to accomplish your wellness coach can help in that area as well. Simply put, they are there to make certain that you are on the right path to success.

Wellness coaches come from a selection of different backgrounds. Despite the fact that most individuals do not go through schooling thinking that they want to be a health Coach, over time they start to transform into this career.

For  instance, many wellness Coaches have backgrounds in fitness training, bodybuilding, health and nutrition, exercise science, and much more.

Once you hire a wellness Coach, he or she will be at your disposal day in and day out. Many people  rely on coaches to help them on a personal basis.  And although this is a good idea for some, internet based wellness Coaches are becoming more and more popular as a result of busy schedules.

So before you think that you do not have time to work with a health Coach, you should really reconsider. They will be willing to work with you in the capacity that best suits your lifestyle.

While working with a health coach you’ll be able to get expert advice on reaching your objectives. If you want to lose weight, you’ll be supplied with an exercise program  that will get you moving in the right direction.  The same thing holds true for those people  who want to eat healthier, get in better shape, etc.

As you can see, a health coach is more than just your typical Joe. They are trained in multiple disciplines, and work with patrons in order to help them reach their goals.

Health Promotion incorporates many facets of our daily lives. From the amount of sleep to the water we drink, to the food that we eat and the activity that we maintain, our health is dependent upon many factors of our lifestyle.

Working to improve our wellness may be challenging to achieve on our own. That is why we can utilize the assistance of a health Coach.

What is a health Coach?

A health coach is a highly educated specialist who’s trained in behavioral change. They hold degrees in Exercise Science, Health Education, Exercise Physiology, Counseling and Education.

A health coach assists person in recognizing current health concerns as well as preventing future health related issues. These professionals work with clients in a variety of ways including; face-to-face, telephone, instant messaging and / or via email.

The latter of those is also referred to as electronic coaching and is the most efficient and cost effective method of working with a wellness Coach.

Whatever method is used for communication a health coach provides a customized program especially designed to address the needs and concerns of each individual customer.

Just how can a health coach help me?

Many person maintain a few healthy habits in their lives. One person might  be a fitness enthusiast; another may abstain from alcohol and tobacco; while another might maintain a healthy daily diet.

Notwithstanding, overall wellness is much like a puzzle, and a high level of health is only achieved when each piece of this puzzle is in place. A health coach will assist an individual in correcting his or her missing piece of the puzzle.

An internet based wellness coach may address the needs of sleep deprivation, stress management, diet, or any number of health related issues.  The wellness coach will motivate, guide, and provide valuable resources to provide clients with the necessary tools to make life changes.

How is a health coach unique?

A wellness coach serves a distinctly different purpose than a fitness trainer, a counselor, or a supportive family member or friend. First, a wellness coach is an professional in his or her specific field.

When a patron decides the need for a wellness coach he or she’ll complete a health risk appraisal. Based on this assessment the patron will be assigned a wellness coach specifically selected to address his or her individual needs.

Next, a health coach is available electronically 24 hours per day. Through online communication patrons have the opportunity to consult a health coach as much or as little as he could like.

Communication with a health coach may range from daily to weekly, and can occur by e-mail, journal or a combination of both. In conclusion, a health coach is trained to assist in changing the way that the patron thinks and the way that they view themselves.

A wellness coach maintains the purpose of helping the patron to work towards achieving a higher quality in life. This happens by addressing the cause of a certain problem rather than simply addressing the effects of a problem.

A health coach will help individuals recognize their needs, determine objectives, and take the necessary steps towards achieving these objectives.

While wellness are growing concerns in our daily lives, it may seem challenging to make the time to educate oneself and address the needs or our well being.

Working with the assistance of a wellness coach empowers us to focus on our specific needs and make progress towards changing.

Do you find it challenging to stay aroused when attempting to make changes to your health? Are you aware that changes ought to be made in your daily life but you do not know where to begin? If so then wellness coaching might just be the solution you’ve been seeking.

Health Promotion coaching is a service provided by trained professionals who work with you individually to help you reach your wellness objectives. Health Promotion coaching motivates, guides, and supports individual’s for reach sustainable behavioral changes by offering creative solutions to their problems.

Wellness coaching provides individually designed health promotion programs to meet your unique needs by focusing on physical, mental, and emotional health. They help you become proactive in your life by eliminating unhealthful behaviors and making wellness a priority.

Advantages of Wellness Coaching for Your Employees

Staff Members may benefit  from wellness coaching in a selection of ways. Health Promotion coaching can help individuals decrease major health risks in their lives by changing high risk behaviors.

Some of the many reasons why staff work with wellness coaches are to get in shape, lose weight, reduce stress, quit tobacco use, and develop balance in their lives. Health Promotion coaches assist person with current medical problems as well as preventing future health issues.

Because each wellness program that a wellness coach creates is unique to suit the needs of the customer, they can be certain that it’ll be a program that is right for them. Many busy workforce mistakenly believe that they don’t have the time for wellness coaching.

Fortunately wellness coaching specialists have the ability to provide their services in a selection of convenient ways. While electronic coaching through the use of e-mails and instant messaging has become a popular method because of its convenience, telephone and face-to-face interactions may also be used.

Employees have the ability to achieve their goals and improve their lives through the assistance of wellness coaching.

Advantages of Wellness Coaching for the Company

The overall benefits of wellness coaching for a organization are remarkable. Worker high risk behaviors such as tobacco use and obesity cost businesses millions of dollars every year.

These high risk behaviors often cause preventable disease and keep workforce from coming to work. Wellness coaching guides, supports, hold clients accountable, and ensures that they receive continued motivation to help them achieve their wellness objectives and eliminate unhealthy behaviors in their lives.

By beginning health promotion programs and using wellness coaching in their companies, employers reduce the risk of preventable illness in their companies.

This improves the overall health of staff members, decreases health care and insurance costs, decreases absenteeism, and ultimately enhances performance and productivity.

When workers experience the advantages of higher levels wellness in their lives it causes an betterment in job attitude, energy, and morale.

Companies that utilize wellness coaching for their personnel experience the advantages of higher productivity.

In today’s fast paced world our busy lives leave little time, energy, or motivation for individuals  to focus on their own needs.

Those that do seek to improve their wellness traditionally turn to friends, family, experts and published materials for support and information. All too often those support structures fail to make a lasting difference.

This happens for a number of reasons. Friends and family may not be capable of helping. Working with experts is time consuming and costly and very few of us are effective at taking published, generic information and applying it to our own lives.

Gold’s Health Club Winston-Salem has created a new web-based wellness program that expands the range of support available to those wishing to make healthful lifestyle changes.

The wellness program, Gold’s Gym Health Coach, focuses on the everyday challenges of making positive lifestyle changes and has the benefits of being more customized and efficient than generic, published information and less intense and expensive than expert face-to-face counseling.

Utilizing a collaborative problem-solving model the goal is not to give advice, but rather to help person think through the issues and come to their own conclusions.

The coach offers ideas for consideration, assists the individual generate ideas of their own, assists the individual consider the various ideas, choose a direction, and then supports them in the implementation of their decision.

Difficult the conventional wisdom that relationship formation requires in-person interaction; Gold’s Health Club has found that members and coaches can easily build meaningful relationships via internet based communication.

Utilizing industry leading technology a Gold’s Fitness Club Wellness Coach can offer members a secure, user-friendly personal website where they can access their coach in a real-time or via email with responses delivered in less than 24 hours.

The site authorizes coaches to hand choose relevant articles that are written on a consumer level and that are targeted to the issue at hand and add them to a member’s online personal library.

The site also contains various wellness programs and tools which are designed to assist the coach and member to set, implement and track specific objectives.

The collaborative relationship formed between member and coach enhances the quality ice and efficiency of service.  The familiarity that a coach develops with a member’s circumstances and meaningful relationships allows them over time to more rapidly offer useful ideas and assistance.

With traditional call-in assistance lines, the time intensive exercise of getting background and contextual information is repeated each time. IN that scenario efficiency is lost.

Moreover, Gold’s Health Club Wellness Coach has developed a protocol based on key principals from the field of psychotherapy and behavior modification.

The protocol is embedded within a proprietary problem-solving that is based on the theory that people  often act without a good understanding of a problem. Their responses then complicate matters and often make matters worse.

Gold’s Fitness Club Wellness Coach offers the opportunity to step back, take a second look at what has going on, and quickly asses the factors influencing the situation. But, having an idea of “what” to do is very different than actually “doing” something about it.

Individuals  need help with the follow-through. Now, after figuring out “what” to do, Gold’s Fitness Center Wellness Coach focuses on implementation.

Here Gold’s Gym Wellness Coach builds on sound research and experience from the field of behavior modification that has to do with goal-establishing and with implementation support.

The end result is a highly personalized, effective, user-friendly way of improving the wellness of an individual.  The efficient nature of the internet based relationship permits Gold’s Fitness Center Wellness Coach to keep the price point within reach of virtually whoever.

Information to evaluate your health promotion program comes from routinely gathered screening and follow-up data of your health promotion program that look at process and outcomes of your program.

The Worker Health Program has available a computerized case-management system which includes queries that allow easy assessment of process and outcome results at any point in time.

Process Analysis

Process investigation looks at the wellness program’s impact as seen at various points in time.

Information that is collected from the various forms that wellness staff fill out ought to supply you with the following -

o  Exactly how many personnel were screened?

o  Exactly how many staff members who were referred to a physician went?

o  Precisely how many personnel who expressed interest in wellness programs went?

o  Exactly how many employees who were referred to wellness programs went?

o  Just how many employees who went to health promotion programs completed them?

o  Exactly how many staff are in follow-up caseload?

You can use this type of process examination to evaluate and learn about the health of your wellness program.

Health Promotion Program Outcome Evaluation

A central objective of the health promotion program is to improve the health of employees. Information on how to judge how well your health promotion program is meeting this objective is called “outcome investigation” because you’re analyzing  the end results or outcome of your health promotion program.

In health promotion programs, objectives are measured by specific (outcomes) behavior changes and reductions in health risk levels. Have employees lowered their blood pressure? Have they lost weight? Are they exercising more? is alcohol consumption at a safe level?

For  instance these are the kinds of questions you are able to ask to figure out when you are reaching your objectives -

o  For staff members with high blood pressure (BP) (140 / 90 or higher or on medication) at screening, what percentage have it under control (below 140 / 90) a year later?

o  What’s the change in average blood pressure (BP) levels among all employees with high blood pressure (BP) 1 year after screening? Two years later?

o  For workforce with high blood cholesterol levels (above 240) at screening, what percentage has decreased their cholesterol to borderline-high levels (200-239)?

o  For employees with borderline-high blood cholesterol levels, what percentages have reduced their cholesterol to the desirable range (below 200)?

o  What is the change in average cholesterol levels among all workforce with high and borderline-high blood cholesterol levels 1 year after screening? Two years later?

o  For employees who were overweight at screening, what percentage have lost 20 pounds or more a year later? Ten pounds or more? What’s the average weight reduction?

o  For workforce who were smokers at screening, what percentages have quit use of tobacco? for at least a year?

o  For employees whose level of alcohol consumption put them at-risk at screening, what percentage have quit drinking alcohol? Are eating alcohol at levels considered safe by CDC guidelines? Have decreased their drinking, but are still at-risk?

o  For workers, what percentages are exercising at least three times a week for at least 20 minutes?

o  When fitness levels were measured, what percentages have improved fitness?

Be certain to set a regular time such as every 6 months to look at which personnel your health promotion program is reaching and how effective it’s at helping them reduce their health risks. Use this information to make new decisions about how to direct your health promotion program efforts. Then make the change you need to improve your health promotion program.

Some may feel that evaluation is a frill; it’s not. Evaluation is a necessary part of a wellness program. You’ll need to know what is working and what is not.

Decision-makers who fund the wellness program need to be updated on the performance of the wellness program. Evaluation will provide you with necessary data to maintain and expand the wellness program and convince senior management to continue to support the wellness program.

The keys to a successful wellness program are persistent one-on-one outreach and follow-up counseling to encourage health improvement, adherence to treatment regimens, changes in lifestyle behaviors, and to prevent relapse.

Periodic outreach and follow-up procedures provide personnel with a safety net which keeps them involved in the health promotion program and avoids treatment dropout and relapse.

Counselors should follow up on staff at least every 6 months throughout the career of the worker at the workplace.  The goals of follow-up are to -

o  Involve employees who have health risks in treatment and risk reduction programs.

o  Involve all workforce in health promotion programs and worksite-wide wellness activities.

o  Support employees in carrying out the risk reduction or health improvement activities they have chosen.

o  Make sure to help workers obey their treatment programs.

o  Prevent relapse.

o  Prevent staff from dropping out.

o  Make sure to help workers maintain behavior changes.

Follow-up could be conducted in person, by phone, mail, and via computer if the technology is available. Most preferable is an in-person contact.

Computer programs which can do case load management are available to help counselors track information and perform follow-up.

Priorities for Follow-Up

Individuals  with multiple health risks ought to be at the top of the list. Individuals  in key positions such as union leaders or department heads with health risks should also be contacted early so that they learn what the health promotion program is about and can share the information with others.

Individuals  who need a medical investigation for high blood pressure or cholesterol should also be targeted early. A lot of staff members will have seen their physicians then of the screening, but some will need more encouragement to do so. Those with no health risks may be followed up each year.

A follow-up counseling session can take 20 to 45 minutes.  At minimum, follow-up must include those who were told to seek medical investigation for high blood pressure readings, high cholesterol readings, or borderline high blood cholesterol readings with 2 or more other risk factors.

It could include those who were identified as at-risk for one or more of the other major risk factors –  at-risk levels of alcohol consumption, being overweight, and having low HDL.

Follow-Up With Physicians

A letter (see forms) should be sent to the physician or clinic of each worker who has high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or is under a physician’s care.

The letter ought to explain the health promotion program and ought to include the worker’s relevant, current health measurements.

Along with the letter, send a self-addressed return envelope. Follow-up with the doctor ought to be repeated every 6 months until it is determined that the worker is under satisfactory control.

Contacting the physician is important for three reasons -

o  The doctors receive employees’ health measurements taken at the workplace.

o  You receive the blood pressure (BP) and cholesterol readings the physician takes and information on the treatment the physician prescribes.

A lot of times the employee doesn’t have this information or doesn’t remember it.  The information can be used when counseling the employee.

o  Follow-up encourages doctors to pay closer attention to heart disease risk factors among their patients.

The menu approach offers staff members a range of choices to support lifestyle changes. It authorizes individuals  to choose the kind of help that suits their schedules and preferences.

The four basic kinds of wellness programs include -

o  Courses

o  Minigroups

o  Guided self help

o  Individual counseling

Classes

Classes (8 or more) may be an effective means of providing education and social support for behavior change.  The length of a class can vary depending on topic requirements. It is not sufficient to offer only classes at a workplace.

Many workers are under time constraints with after work commitments and although they might be interested they simply can’t participate because of their schedules.

Employees could  be very eager to start a wellness program but because of lack of participants to meet class quotas, the wellness program is canceled.

Many national corporations such as the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, Weight Watchers, etc. offer classes; you should’ve little trouble in identifying a provider for class type wellness programs.

You may want to contact your local hospital, health department, or YMCA for possible options. for selecting  a vendor to provide a wellness program you may want to review the section on wellness program structure.

Minigroups

When there isn’t enough interest to develop a class, those who are interested in a given health topic may be formed into a minigroup (2 to 7).

The minigroup can cover the same content as a class but do so in a less formal manner. Presentation of information and discussion is the major format of the minigroup.

Guided Self-Help

Most employees don’t want formal help in making health changes; they prefer to do it on their own. In guided self-help, the wellness counselors provide support, materials, and encouragement.

Meeting times may be arranged and contact may be made either in individuals, by phone, or computer. Materials may be made available at the workplace, or mailed to the individual. Some workplaces now make information available via intranets or the Internet.

Individual Counseling

One of the most successful ways to help individuals change and improve their health status is counseling (or coaching) on a one-on-one basis.

In published studies, health promotion programs which incorporated individual counseling as part of the health promotion program process achieved significantly higher participation rates and achieved greater risk reduction/risk elimination than standard group programs. Studies have demonstrated that individual counseling is both cost effective and cost beneficial.

A wellness counselor should be trained in screening techniques, for in certain situations, they might be required to both screen person and counsel them. They should know how to do the following -

o  Review staff member health risks

o  Contact employees that have health risks.

o  Counsel employees on a one-on-one basis, assisting them set goals, solve problems, and get expert help when they need it.

o  Make certain to help employees follow their treatment recommendations and make lifestyle and health behavior changes.

o  Recruit workers into health promotion programs, like losing weight and use of tobacco cessation.

o  Be sure to work with staff on a one-on-one basis using guided self-help.

o  Conduct classes and minigroups if necessary.

o  Make certain to work with wellness committee members to plan and conduct workplace-wide wellness activities.

Health Promotion counselors are health generalists; they must have basic understanding of a wide range of health topics and health risks.

Counselors ought to be able to consult with staff about their medical problems and the treatments prescribed by their physicians.

They should have a good overview of nutrition, exercise physiology, pathophysiology of disease, pharmacology, psychology, and behavior modification skills.

The educational program ought to include approaches to stress awareness/reduction at the environmental level and at the individual level.

Social, physical, and organizational stressors must be explained and methods to ease or elevate stressors must be presented.

At the individual level how changes in attitudes and behaviors help one to cope with stressors; learning techniques to minimize stress response, like meditation, relaxation response, and exercise.

Content of the program ought to provide the following -

o  Identifying sources of stress

o  Relationship of stress to health

o  Just how the individual experiences stress, personal, family, work

o  Solutions for coping and managing stress

o  Techniques for reducing stress

o  Value of stress, both negative and positive

o  Practical steps of incorporating stress reduction into lifestyle

Personnel conducting stress management programs should have training in psychology, behavioral sciences, or related disciplines such as psychological health professionals, counselors, health educators, psychologists, and psychiatrists.

Training in a reputable program on how to teach the stress management course including group process skills is a must.

A nutrition education program ought to include a nutritional needs assessment, education counseling, and referral as necessary.

Educational sessions and materials should include the following information -

o  The relationship of nutrition and chronic diseases

o  Improving eating patterns

o  Relationship of nutrition and proper weight maintenance

o  Exercise

o  Stress

o  Blood pressure

o  Cholesterol

o  Diabetes and other chronic diseases.

o  Nutritionally valid information regarding the relationship of health to diet, including cholesterol, fats, fiber, alcohol, carbohydrates, salt, sugar, and vitamin/mineral supplementation.

Methods for identifying healthier foods and incorporating low-calorie, high nutrient foods into consuming habits. Guidelines for bettering consuming habits should be based on or in line with national recommendations such as the Food Guide Pyramid.

Instructor ought to be a registered dietitian, registered nurse, or have a baccalaureate degree or higher in health education with training in nutrition.

If an allied health professional instructs the program, a consultation and review of the program design by a registered dietitian is advised.