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Evaluation

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It was developed by Dr. Tom DeLoughry, who develped this program through his career in mental health, managed care, public  health, eldercare and spiritual care. 

Unity of Buffalo – a  n inclusive,  practical approach to  Christianity that  honors  the ancient wisdom of many faith traditions – will provide the support (four two hour workshops to be certified as Living Well coaches – plus an additiional  two-hour workshops for Living Well Leader certification) 0 that will be available though workshops as  well as  smart phones, tablets and  PCs. (see detail below)

In addition, after each community has  certified at least two Living Well Leaders (approximately 9 months after   we will offer  a  special  Briding the Silos of Care to encourage professionals, aides

Unity of Buffalo is a   practical approach to  Christianity that  honors all spiritual paths  and the ancient wisdom of many faith traditions. The program

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THE PROBLEM

Most community-health and  illness-management programs   create a babble of  booklets  with    separate  strategies and varying vocabularies for  each  physical or emotional problem ,  different materials for seniors, adults and teens.     Although the  World Health Organization,  the Centers for DIsease  Control  have all recognized that  social determinants  of health (e.g., behaviors, environment,)  hava a much greater impact on health outcomes than medical care  this is rarely addressed by individual practitioners  , patients and families

Instead,  when facing a medical, emotional, social or spiritual program, many – if not most – call on their physician,  politicians or their God to fix it.   By contrast, the Satisfaction Skills , Learning  Poem and journaling taught in Living Well empower our participants to solve each piece of the Wellness  Puzzle   by:

  • collaborating  with the professionals who provide their medical , emotional and spiritual care , as well as
  • volunteering  to work with their civic, community and  other leaders to improve social issues such as
  • and, if spirituality is important to the participant, using the spiritual gifts  (e.g., love, wisdom)  they have  to go with the flow

Yes!    Below is the evaluation   fromafa

THE LEARNING PLAN (Patient-centered  continuous-improvement care plan)

We are currently seeking  non-profit organizations , foundations and worksites who will collaborate with us to improve the wellness of senior, adults and teens, by creating a new  iteration of  the Caring Teams programs that will   be available on smartphones, tablets and PCs.

Mini-grants   ranging from $250 to $1,000   will be available to  community collaborators who would commit to:

  • having  four  or more of your staff  or members participate in a  four  part training program  that would certify them as “Caring Team Coaches:”   followed by another four sessions that  would certify them to lead online groups as “Caring Team Leaders:
  • using the simple  steps  in our program manual to launch   the program (through smartphone, tablets and PCs)  to the rest of your staff, your members and your community
  • participating   in  a   “community collaborative session” to report on their experience and make suggestions for improving this
  • encouraging participants to complete a confidential pre and post survey so we can measure the impact of this program on improving  physical, emotional and spiritual wellness.

 

Once they are certified, any individual or non-profit can train others using the free   Less Stress, Better Health and More Love workbook.  Thpublished under a Creative Commons

Would you like to help seniors ,adults and teens  in your congregation and community to:

  • Stop stress for just a minute, before peace grows into hours and days of satisfaction? 
  • Work more  closely  with  professionals  providing medil, emotional and spiritual care while solving each piece of the Wellness Puzzle (insert)
  • Be able to forgive themselves, others and God
  • Support each other to acheive goals
  • Volunteer
  • Learn that   they can deepen
  • Follow the “Golden Rule?
  • Reduce their stress and enhance their prayer life?
  • Develop “action plans” for their medical, emotional and spiritual goals?

Parts are drawn   

…while empowering your youth, older adult and service ministries?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A summary of how the four Satisfaction Skills and the two poems are integrated can be found on the last page of our Less Stress, Better Health and More Love workbook,   and is pictured below.

 

EVALUATIONS

Our  evidence-based programs have been well received  by caregivers, patients, volunteers, aides,  as well as  professionals providing medical, emotional and spiritual care.  (See summaries at the bottom of this page.)

For  our upcoming project,  we aim to  measure improvement  in   emotional health and mental health    as well as increased civic engagement and volunteering among our participants  through self-administered, confidential surveys.   Participants will be invited to complete these surveys (using well-validated items) before they begin   our program and at the completion of our program, as well as a six-month follow-up.

We will use a quasi-experimental design using naturally occurring groups, with participants from organizations on our “wait list” serving as controls.  We will track demographic data  and whether the participant participated  in an in-person workshop or an online workshop that may be either synchronous (i.e., led by a facilitator who breaks the larger group into smaller groups for discussion and reflection) or asynchronous (i.e., each participant  proceeds at his or her own pace without any online interaction with other participants).

Thus, at the conclusion of this three-year project,   in addition to interim reports, we will be able to  assess the relative impacts of  demographics, as well as type and duration of program participation (as well as self-help behaviors including  the  Satisfaction Skills,  prayer and volunteerism ) on the  outcomes  we will measure.

We will also employ interviewers who will  explore  the impact of our program on emotional, social, physical and spiritual factors that cannot be  captured by a survey.

This  summary from participants (who served as volunteers through the Health Association of Niagara County, Inc.    )   was   from an anonymous survey they completed after one 90 minute Less Stress, Better Health and More Love introductory workshop.

This evaluation  is from 56 participants who attended one two hour introductory workshop,   titled “Forgiving Yourself, Others and God,”  which used the  same Less Stress, Better Health and More Love workbook.  It taught by  Rev.  Brian McCaffrey,  Kathy DeLoughry – my program development and presentation partner – and me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PROFESSIONALS AND AIDES:

After a two-part training sessions for professionals (e.g., nurses, social workers) at  the Health Association we asked participants if the skills learned through our “Less Stress, Better Health and More Love” booklet effectively addressed both emotional and medical problems:

  • 91% agreed that the Satisfaction Skills (awareness, affirmations, assertiveness and acceptance( could reduce stress
  • 96% agreed the Satisfaction Skills skills could improve communication
  • 92% agreed that the “Learning Plan” (remember goals and check your signs. Take some steps and learn each time) could reduce stress
  • 85% agreed that this Learning Plan could also control chronic illness