| Hi Everyone, I thought I would take the time to report in about my practicum experience thus far. I have been doing an eight week nutrition/fitness worksite wellness program at the school, Carrabassett Valley Academy, where I work. I have been learning a lot and really enjoying the experience. My supervisor is the school nurse and my mentor is the marketing director who previously worked as a wellness coach.The first thing that I did was a needs assessment. I gathered information from participants of the program before implementing any of the actual work that I have been doing. What I came to find was that of the 18 employees participating in the wellness group, about half of the group was joining in to learn, gather motivation and to be be inspired with the intent of weight loss. The other half was wanting sports nutrition information for performance related goals. I also have several participants that are involved specifically for disease prevention such as prevention of osteoporosis. Another thing we initially offered were blood pressure checks during the first week to see if there were any red flags and also for those that wanted it as baseline information. I must say that the majority of the group that I am working with are healthy individuals, none the less, they all have had reason for participating.So what am I doing now, I have been sending a daily healthy tip/topic of the day via email. This has been fun. I have received a lot of positive feedback from this. The tips have been things such as inspirational quotes, recipe ideas, exercise suggestions, tips about specific nutrients, hydration and sleep as well as many other things. I have lead weekly group walks, field workouts, yoga sessions and formed a running group. I have done two lunch and learns. One was on vitamins needs for athletes and the other was on the importance of breakfast, healthy snacks and wholesome dinners. We did a recipe swap at this lunch and learn which was a hit. I also have done two newsletters. One on sports nutrition and the other on eating for good health and the environment. Lastly, I have been meeting with participants one-on-one to set goals, do measurements, weigh-ins and to discuss personal concerns regarding their nutrition. This has been quite an opportunity for me. I have really been enjoying this aspect of the practicum. To start the process, we used Fit Day as an online resource for tracking foods. I had everyone do a three day diet record. This was a great way for me to learn about each participant’s individual areas of concern as well as successes. Some have continued to use the tracking tool. I have been impressed with the dedication of some of the participants and not so with others. One thing that I am learning is that it is difficult to keep participants motivated with sticking to their goals particularly in a work setting. I say this because the most common excuse that I am getting is that they have too much work to get to on any given day. This lesson has also been valuable. All and all, I am very much enjoying my work experience and learning a lot. Please feel free to ask me questions or to comment. |
Jolie’s Practicum – Worksite Wellness
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