Maintaining a healthy lifestyle can be hard, especially if you don’t know where to begin. That’s where we come in. My Best Health is a six-month program that provides personalized support and helps individuals move toward overall well-being. Taylor Yoder, Well-being Coordinator, Parkview Center for Healthy Living, Parkview Noble Hospital, gives us the details on Parkview’s newest long-term behavior change program.
Q: How and why did the program begin?
A: The program began in effort to cut back on obesity and the health effects caused by obesity in Noble County. Obesity was the number one health needs priority based on our County Health Needs Assessment in 2014. The Center for Healthy living offers cooking demonstrations and fitness classes; however, this program is for those who are ready to make a lifestyle, health behavior change and take their health journey one step further.
Q: What specifically are you doing with participants?
A: The participants meet with four professionals throughout the program. These professionals are the Registered Nurse, health coach, Registered Dietitian and personal trainer. The Registered Nurse reviews and educates the participant on their blood work results, answers any clinical questions regarding existing medical conditions and monitors their progress. The health coach provides an overview of the program, helps the participant define the vision of their ultimate healthy self, establishes monthly and weekly goals, and identifies potential barriers and strategies to overcome them. The Registered Dietitian discusses weight and dieting history with the participant, reviews serving sizes and food choices, and teaches methods to improve nutrition through food choices. The personal trainer performs body composition analysis and creates an individualized weekly exercise prescription while tailoring personal training sessions to each individual. Participants are also offered monthly support group sessions where they can learn from others in the program. They are also offered group fitness classes at their area’s specific location.
Q: What makes My Best Health different from other weight management programs?
A: My Best Health is a lifestyle health behavior change program. It is very individualized. Because everyone is at a different point in their health journey, we tailor this program to each participant’s goals. It also spans six months, requiring a long-term commitment from participants.
Q: How do you address and encourage both the physical and mental components of change?
A: Our goal is to reframe the thinking process of our participants and hold them accountable. Individuals often remember how they were unsuccessful in previous change with a negative outlook. We want to change this thought progression into a positive thinking process. We encourage participants to look at successes in their goals instead of failures.
The program also identifies barriers participants have to health behavior change, and how we can overcome these barriers. A great example of this is time. Instead of looking at all of the time we do not have, we focus on the time that we do have. If we only have 5 minutes, we can take a quick walk instead of staying seated at our desks. We’re encouraging optimistic thoughts and small wins.
Q: Where does the work take place?
A: Most appointments take place at the Center for Healthy Living location nearest you. Personal training appointments and group workout sessions are held at the areas specific fitness location.
Q: What happens after the 6-month program?
A: After the 6-month program, individuals may join a maintenance program. This program is less intense. It offers accountability while they continue down their health journey. Additionally, they can refer over to the Center for Healthy Living for programing based around nutrition and fitness. Participants also have the opportunity to join their area’s fitness center (Allen-Parkview Health and Fitness Center, Noble-Cole Family YMCA, and Warsaw-Kosciusko Community YMCA) with no enrollment fee.
Q: Who can apply and how do they apply?
A: Anyone who wants to make a lifestyle, health behavior change may apply. You can download an application from Parkview.com/MyBestHealth or stop by the Center for Healthy Living to pick up an application. Once the application is complete, you will submit the application to Taylor Yoder via email, fax or mail, or by dropping it off to the Center for Healthy Living.
Q: How do you determine who can participate?
A: We will take the first 20 applicants at each location. There is a cardiovascular risk screening that must be completed as part of the application process. If a participant screens with three or more cardiovascular risk factors, we require documentation from their physician that it is okay to participate in the program. The physician can also supply a list of limitations for participation.
Q: Who is the ideal candidate for MBH?
A: Anyone READY to make a health behavior change.
