RUNNING Head: Modeling Personal Wellness

PPE 310: Health Literacy for Schools

Dr. Hesse
Modeling Personal Wellness Assignment
Aminah Haque
Laura Horelica
Marisa Kaufman
Cullen Mccaw
Stephanie Polmateer
Mariela Pooley
Rachael Sotelo
October 25, 2016

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Modeling Wellness Business Plan

The Cranky Burger restaurant was recently purchased and remodeled and renamed the
Walkaway Cafe. The menu was also changed to include only healthy food items with highquality, fresh produce, and the theme of the Walkaway Cafe is promoting employee and
community health through a variety of initiatives to motivate towards a healthier lifestyle and
provide access to tools and environments that promote health and wellness. Healthfulness is a
multifaceted phenomenon, encompassing physical health, emotional well-being, and social
cohesion (Jamner & Stokols, 2001) . To promote health holistically for communities and
individuals, risk factors and strengths must be identified before strategies to promote health and
wellness can be developed. Aligned with this idea, The Walkaway Cafe has identified major
health risk factors in the community and has identified several strategies for promoting employee
and community health and fitness levels, which is detailed below.

Major Risk Factors

Environmental- Contamination spreading to water supplies due to hormones and pathogens used
to produce fast food.
Geographical- Unhealthy fast food restaurants are convenient and becoming westernized around
the world. Eating fast food is the norm because they are located around every corner.
Physical- Addiction of unhealthy fast food in regular diet causes poor physical health, such as
diabetes, high blood pressure, headaches, etc.

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Mental/Psychological- Eating foods rich in fat, sugar, and unnatural ingredients stresses the body
and mind. Consumers become tired, depressed, and sluggish. Unhealthy lifestyle choices can
contribute to being overweight/obese, which can contribute to low-self esteem, depression or
negative body image. This in turn, can affect socialization, optimism about the impact of
lifestyle changes and other facets of life.
Social Health- Unhealthy food choices can lead to a life plagued with disease and poor health,
factoring and influencing a persons daily life. How many times have you determined to take a
step towards making healthy eating only to have it thwarted by your work and social life. Decide
to go off of sugar and the boss brings everyone doughnuts for breakfast! The social aspect of
making better food choices is extremely important because we live a life of social activity. The
risk of not creating an eating plan and finding an accountability partner is self-destructive. The
food risks dont change. Diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, tooth
decay, and some types of cancer can all be results of not making good food choices. At
Walkaway Cafe we have set up an environment for you to come be social without stressing over
the menu.

Strategies

Employee Initiatives
Healthy physical working environment (Jamner & Stokols, 2001, p 142)
Individual Psychological health can be affected by hostility, optimism and a sense of
belonging (Jamner & Stokols, 2001, p 145).People need people! Another desire we have is to

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create a sense of belonging for our employees and customers. We have created an interactive
bulletin board located in the store as well as online for posting small group activities located in
our Walkaway Park and Recreational Area. Common interests often brings people together. Dog
walkers, families with preschool children, and senior walkers are a few of the community groups
having established meeting times for physical activities and encouragement. It is important to
conduct fitness testing prior to exercise participation in order to screen for those at higher risk of
a cardiac event during exercise, to prescribe safe and effective exercise, and to determine
baseline functional capacity for ongoing monitoring and program evaluation (ODonnell, 2002.
Pp 233).

Community Initiatives
Here at Walkaway Cafe, it is important to promote community health, as evidenced by
healthy menus and innovative spaces to allow for standing if a customer should prefer. We offer
several incentive plans to promote community health, including a selection of discounted lunch
meals for customers who have 10,000 steps on their pedometer.
One program that we take pride in is the More Green Space Project. We are dedicated to
developing more green space in our neighborhood, providing a place where families, children
and neighbors can socialize, get outdoor activity in a safe environment, and motivate each other
to better health. A percentage of every transaction is donated to this fund, and with our
community partners, we are close to purchasing the property to build the Walkaway Park and
Recreational Area. The permit process has been started and we are proud to offer our customers
not only health choices, but conscientious choices as well. This park will promote community

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health by providing a safe environment that has some variation in it, providing a balance that has
been linked to higher individual levels of health and wellness (Jamner & Stokols, 2001, p 139).

Promoting Wellness
Offering healthy food options promotes community wellness and employee wellness and
health by providing convenient and healthy meals and snacks. This gives the consumer the power
to choose their meal and include foods they enjoy but empowers them to make healthy choices.
Our employee health plan has a reduced cost for members who participate in healthy
lifestyle program. The healthy lifestyle program asks participants to work out 30 minutes a day,
three times a week, stop smoking or take steps to quit, and make simple dietary changes, like
reducing caloric intake or sugar intake. This motivational tool promotes the health of employees
by offering the extrinsic motivation of reducing the cost of health insurance plans through the
Walkaway Cafe.

Change Agents
Aminah Haque
As a change agent, I will focus on preventable disease in the workplace such as
encouraging colleagues to get their flu shots, promoting healthy life choices, and actively
working to sign colleagues up for physical or health assessments. Encouraging colleagues to get
their flu shots promotes general wellness, preventing the flu from individuals and preventing the
spread of flu to coworkers. A healthy employee is a happier employee and more capable of
doing their job well, which also ties into promoting healthy lifestyle choices. Through modeling

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healthy eating and creating a workout group that supports each other in fitness goals, I intend to
motivate peers to change their attitude about what is accomplishable. Because I am not in
perfect health, yet I choose to advocate for better health, I can nudge a persons attitude toward
what is possible. This attitude nudge is actually a powerful tool to creating lasting change
(Overbek, 2015), and has the potential to motivate an individual to take those first baby steps
toward greater health. My final approach to promoting health in the Walkaway Cafe is to
encourage colleagues to sign up for yearly health assessments which provide insight into their
current health level and gives them a necessary tool to creating a strategy to accomplish their
fitness goals. Obtaining a starting point from these assessments allows colleagues to set
achievable goals, create strategies for success and utilize their strengths to improve their areas of
weaknesses (ODonnell, 2002) (Boyes, 2015).
Laura Horelica
As an agent of change, the first action that I have taken is to walkaway from diet soft
drinks and walk towards healthier beverage choices. I have heard that it takes twenty-eight days
to change a habit. I am well past twenty-eight days of success. My main struggle is in my brain.
Thoughts of self-rewards for doing a good job always point to returning to the unhealthy choice.
I have to not reward my diet soft drink abstinence with a diet soft drink. I am choosing the
rewards at Walkaway Cafe. This time I bought myself a step counter. I have other personal areas
of change to work on but I can be an agent of change for others while I am conquering them. I
am researching new food items to suggest adding them to the menu. I am also going to organize
a small group of walkers to join me at the park three times a week. At my workplace my
coworkers are already noticing a change in me. When they ask, they open the door for me to be a

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change agent in their life. I ask them to take a wellness self assessment so that they can recognize
and begin on the behaviours that they need to change for themselves. This is a win/win for both
of us.
Marisa Kaufman
My goal as an agent of change is to first take ahold of my diet habits and really watch
what I am putting into my body. From there I can then get friends and family members on board
with making healthier choices when it comes to food, drinks, and exercise. I usually do really
well for a good two months with eating right and taking unhealthy food and drinks out of my
diet. Then I go somewhere and see something I really want to eat and I completely break my
healthy eating lifestyle. Having a support system and someone telling me no has really helped
when I get these cravings to eat anything and everything. I want to be that person to others. Also
as an agent of change I would like to start walking more in the evenings when I get home from
work. I used to walk all the time and I feel that I have gotten very lazy. Along with walking
more, I need to start wearing my step counter again. I turned trying to get 10,000 steps into a
competition between my mom and I. I work at a school and I see a lot of the teachers buy what
the students are eating. It is not that the students are eating poorly but more the fact that as adults
we should not be eating the student lunch. I want to advocate at my work a staff potluck once a
month for healthy recipes. Then we can share recipes with one another and try it at home. Since I
work at a school I would like to start being more active with the student and get the teachers
involved as well instead of just watching the student play. This is a great way to show our
students that staying healthy and being active can be fun.

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Cullen McCaw

As a change agent, I will help myself and other make healthy eating habits and getting
exercise by going for walks after meals or riding bikes. I will promote a whole food plant based
diet for those interested and help those who are interested reverse diseases that can be prevented
by a whole foods plant based diet. I will encourage others to adopt a healthy attitude towards
food and will show them how to cook healthy meals for themselves and their families. I work at
Teavana right now and they are moving towards all their teas being natural starting in 2017, I
will educate those around me about the benefits of tea and how it can help their health with the
antioxidants found within the tea. I hope to continue to be a change agent within my work setting
and to continue to advocate for a whole foods plant based diet. I plan on walking away from soda
and to start exercising with my girlfriend with riding bikes, and also riding my bike to work each
day.
Mariela Pooley
Naturally I am a competitive person with a drive to achieve goals made enticing and fun
with the encouragement of others. As a change agent I will promote healthy competitions with
my coworkers. We can design simple and effective methods so it is enjoyable for those
participating. I have ideas such as, each month has a different theme and goal. One month can be
who can drink the most water, another can be who cooks dinner at home the most, and who can
walk or hike the most miles in one month. We can track our progress using apps on our
smartphones and determine a winner. The prizes can include a gift card to a juice bar or smoothie
place, a healthy restaurant or exercise equipment. I believe these monthly challenges will keep us
engaged and motivated on small goals in our lives. Changing everything in our lives can be more

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damaging than productive, it overwhelms people and the easy unhealthy route seems like the
better choice in that situation. With healthy competition we can make healthy improvements and
impactful changes.
Rachael Sotelo
As a change agent at the Walkaway Cafe and advocates for customers, I will promote
healthy change by enlisting employees to take part in healthy activities outside of work and
provide them with access to proper healthcare and nutritionists. Healthy activities include gym
memberships, monthly newsletters with healthy recipes, and access to medical professionals to
encourage positive mental, physical, and nutritional health. Environmental factors may play a
part in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, however, as a change agent at the Walkaway Cafe, I will
advocate for affordable and safe foods for consumption. I would like to provide employees with
simple tools necessary for planting home gardens so they can organically and cost effectively
grow their own healthy food at home. Employees can be offered a variety of planting seeds, as
well as contribute to an employee garden for consumption while at work.
Stephanie Polmateer
As a change agent I will also work to achieve sustainability in our food practices. If we
have an overabundance of food leftover from our gardens we will commit to sharing with each
other and sourcing it to our local food bank so that others may benefit from our harvest and be
exposed to healthy fruits and vegetables. This will help others learn about our restaurant and the
work that we are doing to improve overall health in our community. We will also offer
workshops and classes for our customers to teach them healthy eating practices. We will focus on
the fruits and vegetables that are in season. For example, a class one night could be on how to

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make the simple and fun dish called ratatouille, which is full of fresh seasonal vegetables. A fun
and active way that we can promote fitness as well is by creating walking food tours to local
venues. We will partner with local restaurants or farmers markets so that participants will be
able to sample foods along the way and be exposed to new things. The other way I will help our
employees and customers is by creating nutritional pamphlets for our foods. It will not only
include calorie counts, but protein, sodium, fiber and more. The resource that I will use to create
these pamphlets is the website SuperTracker. This website has a Food-a-pedia so that I can
look up and compare two foods. Using this tool will help us make the best choices for our
customers.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is our goal and our hope that the Walkaway Cafe, our employees, our
customers, and our community will be a winning environment for health and wellness for all. We
have done our homework and set a successful stage for all who choose to partake. Perisus, a
Roman Poet, said, You pray for good health and a body that will be strong in old age. Good
but your rich foods block the gods answer and tie Jupiters hands.(Johnson, 2010) James Leigh
Hunt viewed good health as the groundwork of all happiness. (Johnson, 2010) We hold this great
power to choose, lets choose the groundwork of happiness.

References

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Boyes, A. (2015). How to use your strengths to overcome your weaknesses.

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Psychology Today. Retrieved from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/inpractice/201506/how-use-your-strengths-overcome-your-weaknesses

Jamner, M. S. & Stokols, D. (2001). Promoting human wellness : New frontiers for research,
practice, and policy. University of California Press. Retrieved from:
http://site.ebrary.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/lib/asulib/detail.action?docID=10053516
Johnson, C. (2010) Great Thinkers - The Benefits of Good Health. Super Tomato: Upgrade your
Healthstyle. Retrieved from:http://summertomato.com/great-thinkers-10-inspiringquotes-for-healthy-living
ODonnell, M. (2002). Health Promotion in the WorkPlace. pp 220-223. Retrieved from:
https://books.google.com/books?
id=KN3T5OEvOVsC&pg=PA220&lpg=PA220&dq=Comprehensive+Health+Progra
m+Data+Assessment&source=bl&ots=T67Cbc9Mp_&sig=omNwuyC7iTDdMY5ptx
TYE8mCV9M&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiE9NzR5tzNAhUTmMKHZAFDJcQ6AEIJTAB#v=onepage&q=Comprehensive%20Health
%20Program%20Data%20Assessment&f=false
Overbek, J. (2015). You dont have to be the boss to change how your company works. Business
Review. Retrieved from: https://hbr.org/2015/02/you-dont-have-to-be-the-boss-tochange-how-your-company-works