In the News: Health Coaching

published on Tuesday, February 2, 2010 by admin

Via our friend George Jacobs of the Davidson Clergy Center:
A Massachusetts pilot study is assessing the effectiveness of health coaching.

Health coaches are a major component of our Clergy Health Initiative pilot program, currently underway in the Goldsboro and Northeast Districts of North Carolina. For those (like me) who are relatively new to the concept, it may be helpful to define coaching partly by what it is not: it is not therapy. Coaching is less intensive, and can be conducted over the phone; an embodied presence is less crucial. Coaching is a forward-looking process that “revolves around strengths and potential, rather than feelings of pathology or pain.”

Our colleague David Odom likes to say that if a client is wrestling with her calendar, that’s an issue for a coach; if the client is talking about her family album, that’s an issue for a therapist.

From the linked article, here is a person battling cancer, who had plenty of medical information and resources, but needed help from a coach in coping, in discerning how to live with her diagnosis.

Susan DiGiovanni of Reading says coaching saved her life. Thunderstruck by a July recurrence of breast cancer, she turned to a wellness coach to navigate her way through a new life in which just getting out of bed to make a cup of tea was a struggle. She had superb medical care, but was emotionally, physically, spiritually, and mentally devastated by her Stage 4 diagnosis.

“I needed to find someone who could not only navigate the hospital system, but help me reach out to other opportunities, based on my own individual needs,’’ she said.
[...] When they began working together, [coach Margaret] Moore asked DiGiovanni to write down 10 things that make her feel alive or give her purpose. Faith was her first one, so Moore suggested she start each day with 15 minutes of prayer and meditation. Family was next, followed by friends and being in nature. Going down the list, they found ways to connect with what helped her.
“We totally focused on her future and achieving her dream. I’m not talking about her cancer treatment, unless she wants to tell me about it,’’ Moore said. “We are working on how she’s building a new career, how she’s working with her teenage kids, how she’s moving into a new house.’’
DiGiovanni says the process gave her inner healing. “Most people think of wellness coaching as, ‘Jog three miles, eat a lot of salad, take your vitamins, and do a yoga class.’ It’s so much deeper.’’

 

To be clear, all of our pilot participants are assigned to a health coach. A major life-altering illness is not a requirement! Our hypothesis is that the services of a coach can have measurable, ongoing benefits to any pastor seeking to maintain or improve health.

A good clinician gives us needed information: the Who, What, and Where of improved health. A good coach helps us refine information into knowledge -- the How of behavior change.

Shalom y'all,

John

John James, M.A.
Research Coordinator
Clergy Health Initiative

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Ordinary Time

published on Friday, January 29, 2010 by admin

Most pastors have heard Fred Craddock’s phrase, “almost Bible.” He coined it after learning early in his ministry that some things people believe to be in the Bible just aren’t there. Craddock’s favorite example is the three wise men, heralded in hymn and Hallmark card across the years, but missing from Matthew. The Evangelist mentions three gifts, but leaves the number of the Magi mysterious. That number three? Almost Bible. Add a fourth wise person next time you plan a children’s Christmas pageant and you can be sure everyone will read Matthew’s text afresh.

This time between Epiphany and Lent might be called "almost ordinary." We’ve gotten the Magi (choose your number) to the Birth, the heavenly host have retreated from the skies above Bethlehem, Jesus has grown up and been baptized, and there are four weeks until Ash Wednesday. After all the excitement of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, we’re dropped into “ordinary” time.

The word ordinary has come to mean commonplace or mundane.  But when it comes to the Christian Year, “ordinary” means designated by ordinal number: first, second, third, fifteenth. The numbering reminds us of the purposeful movement of history toward God’s cherished End.

There’s certainly nothing ordinary about God being among God’s people, moving with them toward the New Jerusalem.

There’s also nothing ordinary about the pastoral vocation this time of year, especially the important ministry of self-care. It is grace that endows Christian time with purpose and direction, and gives the pastor opportunity to preach and teach this in the midst of winter’s cold and grey. Likewise, it is grace, well-received, that enables the pastor to care for herself so that she might, in turn, care for others.

Where in this space between Epiphany and Lent – with its attendant denominational responsibilities, church committee meetings, journey with challenging confirmands – is the grand sweep of grace that is moving you along in your own journey?

Where, amidst all the shades of grey, is the Light which the darkness cannot extinguish?

Sometimes these are found in unlikely places, as the Wise Ones discovered when the star stopped in Bethlehem.

Ed Moore
Leadership Education at Duke Divinity

Photo Credit:
Flickr/Michael McCarty

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Meeting the Challenge of Childhood Obesity

published on Tuesday, January 26, 2010 by admin

When talking about obesity, people can easily lapse into judgmental terms that place the blame on the overweight person. But who's responsible for the widespread and growing problem of childhood obesity? More importantly, how can we stop it?

There are a myriad of systemic factors that contribute to the epidemic, from land use policy to the accessibility of fresh healthful foods in many small communities. The current economic downturn raises the day-to-day stress in many households, and increases the need for churches and other institutions to support parents and families in instilling healthy habits in their kids that will last a lifetime.

Photo (c) Salisbury, NC, Parks and Recreation DepartmentThe Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has just launched a $33 million program to curb childhood obesity. RWJF is funding initiatives in 50 communities across the country. Two of the grant sites are in North Carolina: Moore-Montgomery County and Nash-Edgecombe County. An additional Tar Heel connection is that the nationwide project is coordinated from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill.

A major focus of the Nash-Edgecombe project is ensuring that preschools serve healthy food and provide plenty of time for energetic play. “With so many single parents working long hours or overnight shifts, many of our children end up eating two meals a day while at child care. We have to work with both the parent and the provider to have a real impact," said Henrietta Zalkind, executive director of the Down East Partnership for Children.

The Moore-Montgomery project is looking at aspects of the built environment in an attempt to increase walkability and "comprehensive connectivity." Both projects also will promote farmers' markets and community gardens, with the aim of improving families' diets while advancing the local economy.

It's good to see resources, vision, and innovation being brought to bear at the community level. With so many churches operating at the center of our communities, are there additional steps we can take to help our support local families in this effort?

Shalom y'all,
John

John James, M.A.
Research Coordinator
Clergy Health Initiative

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