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Living Well Workshops: Closer Than You Think
At the end of each Living Well Workshop, participants set goals as part of their weekly action plan. Each individual's goal is designed to be small, attainable and specific, "I want to walk after supper for 20 minutes three days a week."
Participants return to the Living Well Workshop the next week to report the progress of their weekly action plan to their classmates. Week by week, participants notice significant improvements in their daily lives as goals are achieved and new goals are set. As one participant summed it up, "I learned I can do a little at a time instead of doing nothing, because I couldn't do it all."
The workshop is designed to help adults of all ages cope with the challenges that accompany any of several chronic health conditions including heart and breathing problems, stroke, diabetes, fibromyalgia, arthritis, high blood pressure and others.
People living with chronic medical conditions can improve their daily lives by taking small steps. This philosophy has made MeritCare's Living Well Workshop successful. These six-part workshops — offered throughout the region free of charge — provide people diagnosed with chronic conditions the opportunity to improve their lives through self-management surrounded by others living with similar circumstances.
Rich Preussler, Living Well Coordinator, says that weekly action planning provides an atmosphere for participants to set their own pace; they can specify exactly what they want to improve or do better. Participants often surprise themselves. "People come to the workshop with a lot of wisdom they may or may not know they already have," Pruessler says.
The success of the program's weekly action planning is due largely to the supportive group environment Living Well Workshops provide. Along with encouraging each other on weekly action plans, classes brainstorm topics together such as healthy eating, safe exercise and effective communication with loved ones. "It's definitely not a sit and listen class," Preussler says.
Openings for Living Well Workshops are still available in various communities across the region.
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Posted Date: August 2009