Increasing Opportunities for Health Ann Robinson & Melinda - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Increasing Opportunities for Health

Ann Robinson & Melinda DelFratte

Overview

• What is “wellness”?
• Current health statistics for people with

disabilities and caregivers

• How do we make behavior changes?
• Moving from What to Why
• Why workplace wellness?
• How can the organization support wellness

activities?

• Getting started with programs
• Suggestions

What do we mean by ‘Wellness’?

Health Status of Adults with IDD

• Studies have found the rate in adults with IDD of physical

inactivity to be 4.5 times higher and obesity to be 1.3 times more likely compared to people without disabilities

• More likely to have poor health literacy
• More likely to smoke and make poor diet choices
• Experience high rates of chronic health conditions

including diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, asthma, chronic pain, and heart disease

Health Status of DSPs

• One study found that 32% of DSP use tobacco,

25% are overweight and 40% are obese

• Have been shown to have poor lifestyle habits:

– 41.2% are not meeting daily requirements of fruit/vegetable intake – 40% ate fast food at least 2x per week A majority of DSPs see themselves as having a large role in promoting health to their clients

Behavior Change

How do people make behavior changes? SLOWLY!

• Studies have shown that it typically takes

anywhere from 2-6 months

• To break a habit, we typically need to

form a replacement habit at the same time

Stages of Change

https://youtu.be/Twlow2pXsv0

Moving from

What to Why

How can we design programs that help people change habits?

Peer support

• People are more likely to change health

behaviors (diet, physical activity, tobacco) when they are doing it with people around them

• Role-modeling

– People with disabilities often see direct support staff as a friend and role-model for health behaviors

How can we design programs that help people change habits?

Goal-setting

• Encourage small health goals that build

toward a larger goal- more opportunities for success!

• Create activities where people can set

group or partnership goals for built-in peer support

How can we design programs that help people change habits?

Make it fun

• Work in different types of opportunities to build

interest and confidence

• Create activities that play on existing interests-

TV, music, sports, characters, seasons.

• Add sneaky wellness into these activities
• Make room for choice, take turns choosing

How can we design programs that help people change habits?

Focus on addition, not subtraction

• Instead of taking away things people like,

present opportunities to try healthier foods and activities.

• Work in small amounts of physical activity

instead of replacing another activity with full

• class. It all adds up!
• Build awareness

through tracking

Benefits of Workplace Wellness

Return on Investment:

• Reduced health care costs
• Reduced Absenteeism
• Lowered workers’ compensation claims

Value on Investment:

• Reduced health care costs
• Reduced Absenteeism
• Lowered workers’ compensation claims
• Improved employee engagement and

employee satisfaction

• Increased productivity
• Improved overall organization

financials and growth

• Improved recruitment
• Reduced turnover

How can policy be used?

Organizational Support

Q: How can we create a culture of wellness? Encourage leadership/management to show support for healthy activities:

Create wellness plan Create wellness committee Distribute a wellness calendar/newsletter/postings Offer small incentives for participation Dedicated staff time Dedicated weekly schedule time Promote events & educational classes Attend kick-off meetings

Organizational Support

Encourage discussion of health promotion goals in ISP meetings- health is more than medication management or doctor appointments!

• Have a list of options at meeting so people do not

have come up with ideas themselves

Whenever possible, promote healthy options

• Vending, postings/communications, wellness

calendar, point of decision prompts (Try water instead of soda!)

• Give people ideas of healthier incentives for treats

(veggie burger instead of hamburger, smoothie instead of milkshake)

Ways to do things with little resources

Partner with community organizations and educational inst.

• OSU Extension offices, local hospital systems,

churches, senior centers, student organizations or college departments Use technology when possible

• Free health apps-food tracking, exercise, meditation,

mental health, smoking cessation

• Topical websites
• YouTube

Leverage health plan or public health resources

• Adapt existing programs to the needs of your group

Getting Started with New Programs

• Introduce activities

that require various levels of commitment

• Combine with

existing initiatives to be present in the community and make choices

Getting Started with New Programs

Cause and effect activities Can help people gain motivation for participation in programs or to learn how to make choices that will benefit them long-term

• Find ways to visually represent the effects of a health or

unhealthy lifestyle – Giant puzzle pieces, flip books, word bubble exercise, social stories

• Be specific and use a variety of examples

– Health is a big topic with many modifiable factors. (dental and other hygiene, skipping meals, social participation)

Program Suggestions

• National Center on Health,

Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD)

• Website has instructional

materials and videos on inclusive physical fitness and healthy eating

• Healthy Lifestyles For People

with Disabilities program

• developed by people with IDD
• Resistance band exercises

Program Suggestions

• HealthMatters Program

○ 12-week exercise and nutrition education program designed for people with disabilities ○ Resources page has links to instructional materials and FABS videos

• HealthMessages Program: Peer

to Peer coaching

• MyPlate, MyWins

○ online tools for healthy meal plans, nutrition tracking

Program Suggestions

• Cooking classes or

workshop

• Grocery store tour
• Fruit/Vegetable of the Week
• taste-testing of different preparation methods,

talk about how this food fuels your body

• Try out new healthy restaurant choices,

smaller portion sizes

• Test new healthy recipes and

create a cookbook of favorites

• Menu planning and budgeting

My25 Program

Program Suggestions

• Stress management

○ Relaxation methods:

Mindfulness, meditation, yoga, tai chi (YouTube!)

• Deep breathing exercises

Utilize Free Resources from Government Agencies

Public health and other government resources are out there that can help you!

• CDC, local public health, USDA

Don’t forget Aging and Children’s health programs

• More universally designed activities.
• May be intended for larger

groups/organizational use

Questions? Suggestions?

http://go.osu.edu/OPRA18

The Ohio Disability and Health Program (ODHP) is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funded program aimed at improving the health of people with disability in Ohio. ODHP is a partnership between the Nisonger Center at The Ohio State University, the Ohio Department of Health, the University of Cincinnati University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UC UCEDD), and the Ohio Colleges of Medicine Government Resource Center.