On February 2, 135 Denver residents will start participating in a free, six-week lifestyle improvement program at Porter Adventist Hospital. Dr. Eric Shadle, director of CREATION Health for Centura Adventist Hospitals, is actively recruiting participants for next month’s Pathway to Health and Wellness, an extension of the CREATION Health program.
CREATION Health debuted more than a decade ago at Florida Hospital in Orlando and is currently implemented in Adventist hospitals across the country. It focuses on eight principles of health—Choice, Rest, Environment, Activity, Trust, Interpersonal relationships, Outlook and Nutrition—based on the CREATION acronym. CREATION Health materials have long been available for use by local churches and hospitals.
Shadle uniquely plans to incorporate biometric screening tools before and after the study to measure improvements in participants’ health. To validate results, his team will check blood work for cholesterol, fasting blood sugar, and hemoglobin A1c markers. They’ll also track blood pressure and body mass with height and weight.
This retooled health study includes eight 90-minute classroom sessions featuring newly written scientific curriculum and core lectures on the eight principals of health, along with cooking demonstrations (including delicious samples), exercise sessions, group discussions, and time for Q&A. The six-week core program will be followed by eight months of follow-up sessions with continued coaching on CREATION Health principles.
Best of all, program lectures and cooking demos will be recorded for use in subsequent sessions. Later in the summer, program materials will be duplicated and session videos will be posted online for local churches, schools and other organizations to use in their outreach efforts.
“It’s a great way for churches, hospitals and schools to work together to improve the health of their neighbors and to share the love of Christ at the same time,” says Shadle. “It’s all part of Centura Health’s ‘Population Health Strategy’ for creating healthier communities.”
In addition to needing 135 program participants, Shadle is recruiting volunteers to help with registration, cooking and small group discussions. If you’re interested in being a program participant or volunteer, please email CreationHealth@centura.org or call 303.778.2422.
—
This article was submitted by Stephen King, senior vice president for Rocky Mountain Adventist Health/Centura Health, where he serves the five Adventist hospital campuses in Colorado. It was written by Mark Bond.
