RESIDENTS IN SOUTH SUBURBS CAN ‘TAKE CHARGE’ WITH HEALTH WORKSHOPS

AgeOptions will facilitate Take Charge of Your Health and Take Charge of Your Diabetes workshops in the South Suburbs. These interactive, six-week programs are meant to help those with chronic health conditions. Photo Courtesy of AgeOptions Staff.
AgeOptions will facilitate Take Charge of Your Health and Take Charge of Your Diabetes workshops in the South Suburbs. These interactive, six-week programs are meant to help those with chronic health conditions. Photo Courtesy of AgeOptions Staff.

Residents in South Suburbs can ‘Take Charge’ with health workshops

BY TIA CAROL JONES

A series of interactive workshops will begin at libraries in the South Suburbs with the goal to help people with health conditions and to take better care of themselves.

These workshops will meet for six weeks and each will last 2 ½ hours. Topics for Take Charge of Your Health include healthy eating, physical activity, stress management, as well as action planning. Topics for Take Charge of Your Diabetes include monitoring, healthy eating, menu planning, as well as medication management.

Take Charge of Your Diabetes will take place from 12:30 to 3 p.m. Wednesdays, Feb. 5-March 11, at Olympia Fields (Ill.) Park District, 20712 Western Ave. Take Charge of Your Health will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesdays, March 3-April 7, at South Holland Public Library, 16250 Wausau Ave.

AgeOptions, an Oak Park-based non-profit organization, facilitates and trains people for the Take Charge of Your Health and Take Charge of Your Diabetes workshops. Peg Tully is the health education implementation coordinator for Age Options.

Tully said the workshops are evidenced-based health promotion programs that were developed by Stanford University in the early 1990s.

“The workshops are designed for people with ongoing chronic health conditions which include heart disease, arthritis, diabetes and cardiovascular disease,” she said. “We’re providing them with information and tools to practice and utilize so they can best manage their health.”

Tully said some of the health outcomes include improved communication with their doctors, as well as a three percent decrease in hospitalizations and a five percent decrease in emergency room visits.

Tully added, weekly goal setting and action planning are important components. Participants take smaller, more doable goals and decide what action they need to take to achieve that goal.

“We stress the importance of what you can do this week. They set realistic goals so they can be successful,” she said.

Acorn Public Library, 15624 Central Ave., in Oak Forest, will host Take Charge of Your Health from 12 to 2:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, March 25-April 29. An information session will take place at 12 p.m. Wednesday, March 4. Space is limited to 20 people.

Donna Dukes is the manager of adult services at Acorn Public Library. She said the library gets frequent requests to do workshops on health and aging.

“When we host a health workshop people enjoy it, so they want to see it keep happening at the library,” she said. “We definitely want to establish the library as a vital part of the community. We want to be able to provide these kinds of services.”

Dukes said the library is not just a place where people can check out books, it also is a place where people can gain information to improve their health. “We also host yoga and meditation classes, those are really popular,” she said. “We want to give the people what they want.”

Dukes said when Age Options discussed hosting these events at the library, they wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. “Obviously, we would hope they gain something on leading a healthier lifestyle or how to deal with their stress. The library is a place where they can come to for needs like this,” she said.

To register for Take Charge of Your Diabetes at Olympia Field Park District, call 708-481-7313, ext. 221. To register for Take Charge of Your Health at South Holland Public Library, call 708-527-3160. To register for Take Charge of Your Health at Acorn Public Library, call 708-687-3700.

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