Healthy Living Group
No More Diets
Goshen, Indiana – At Maple City Health Care Center, a group of people have replaced diets, stress, and worry with something more fun.
Leaders Arely Perez and Amy Crosson
The people in the group face health threats that are a long ways from fun. Some of the people have recently learned that they have diabetes. Others face high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or obesity.
All of the people in the group know that unless they can change the way they live, their problems will get worse. Some of the problems might lead to death.
The fun starts with the two people who facilitate the group. Arely Perez is a patient educator at Maple City Health Care Center. Amy Crosson is a nurse practitioner at the Center. While their job titles sound serious, both women love to laugh.
“We call our group Healthy Living,” Arely explains. “Most of the people in the group have some kind of life-long illness, but we don’t focus on the illness. We focus on ways to live healthfully and feel good.”
Part of the fun is meeting people from different cultures. Some of the people in the group speak Spanish. Others speak English. Arely translates everything that anyone says.
Healthy Living Group Shares Ideas
Because people in the group will live their entire life with the problems they face, a diet won’t work. “This isn’t about a temporary fix,” Amy says. “People in the group need to change the way they live.”
The way the group works is based on a model for making life style changes that researchers at Stanford University developed and tested. Several years ago, Arely received training in the Stanford model and later became a trainer, herself.
“The idea is that each person finds a way to be successful in improving their health,” Arely says. “Success is much more fun and productive than failure.”
Arely and Amy explain that success is important for another reason. Many people with a life-long disease may find themselves in a vicious cycle.
The cycle can start when the person learns she has the disease. The person often feels sad and scared. People know they must make big changes or face serious consequences, so if they slip up, they may feel guilty and frustrated. Frustration can lead to depression and anger. The stress piles up and causes more problems.
Arely describes how the group helps foster success. “We meet every week and each person sets a very specific goal for the week.”
“If someone in the group says that his goal is losing five pounds, other people in the group might say, ‘That’s too hard. Find something you’re sure you can do.’ So the person might decide to try a new recipe. The next week, he feels successful and he’s ready to try something else.”
“One benefit of the group is better relationships,” Amy reports. “People in the group learn to care about each other. As medical staff, we learn to know our patients at a deeper level and they learn to trust us.”
Arely and Amy Listen to Concerns
“One example is a group member who always seemed positive. She reported significant lifestyle changes, but because Arely and I knew her well, we began to notice some small danger signs. When we talked with the woman in private, she revealed how scared and miserable she felt. She wasn’t doing as well as she had reported.”
Both facilitators have learned from personal experience how hard it is to change habits. Amy has high blood pressure. Arely was recently diagnosed with diabetes.
“Learning that I have diabetes really changed how I feel about the group,” Arely confesses. “When I got my diagnosis, people in the group were very kind and accepting. Some of them cried with me. I used to be a little annoyed with people who kept slipping up. Now I know for myself how hard it is to make even small changes.”
The happy news is that small changes add up to big differences. Members of the group lose weight. They lower their cholesterol. They lower their blood sugar. They find ways to live more healthfully.
“That’s the most enjoyable part of this group,” Amy concludes. “At the end of the day, being healthier feels good.”
Maple City Health Care Center serves people in north and east Goshen. The Center provides low-cost, high quality health care and models a health care alternative. At this time, the Healthy Living Groups are only for current patients of Maple City Health Care Center. People who want more information about the Healthy Living Group work may call Arely Perez at 534-3300.