ProHealthNet Wellness Talks

Injury/Disease Prevention

Fight Back!
Combating Low-Back Pain and Injury
If you suffer from low-back pain (either occasionally or chronically), you are not alone. More than 80 million Americans suffer from bouts of back pain and are hoping for relief. This workshop will examine the causes of low-back pain, the various treatments available for acute and chronic backache, and lifestyle changes that can assist you in learning how not to let low-back pain dictate your life. Who should attend this workshop? Anyone with a spine.

Ouch, That Hurts!
Care & Prevention of Common Injuries
The aches and pains of life seem to grow in number as we age. Many of these injuries linger on and on because people 1) do not recognize the nature (cause) of the injury, 2) are not aware of ways to minimize the risk of injury, 3) know how to treat the injury, and 4) know when to seek medical advice. This talk will explore the nature, risk, and treatment of many common physical ailments – and also present tips on knowing when to seek medical attention. Some of the injuries that will be addressed are sprains, strains, spasms, bursitis/tendonitis, blisters, bruises, muscle soreness, and low-back pain. Various therapeutic modalities such as cryotheraphy (cold treatments), thermotheraphy (heat treatments), stretching, and massage will be included in the discussion.

Cardiovascular Disease: What Can I Do?
The “bad news” is that cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in this country. The “good news” is that many of the major cardiovascular disease risk factors are controllable through lifestyle choices and habits. This presentation will examine the various risk factors and explain what you can do to reduce your risk of disease.

Stress Management

Fatigue and Decision Making
The ability to make appropriate decisions can be affected by one’s level of fatigue. Some stress and fatigue can bring about clarity and concentration. Too much fatigue and stress however – will disrupt decision-making capabilities. Attend this lecture and learn how fatigue influences how you interpret and process information. You will also learn how to combat this common problem.

Stress Management: A Self-Directed Coping Program
How effective one is at coping with stress depends on the comprehensiveness of their stress management program. The 3 primary areas of management strategies are Attitude Adjustment Strategies, Direct Stress Eliminators, and Practical Management Techniques. During this lively presentation, you will be introduced to numerous coping strategies and given instructions on how to utilize them.

Practical Stress Reduction Techniques
Get ready to relax! During this practical, “hands-on” session, you will be taught 3 or 4 stress reduction techniques. You will be able to utilize these techniques in your daily lives. Introduction and practice will be the focus so dress comfortably and appropriately (some of the techniques will be performed on the floor with mats.)

Stress in the Workplace
The workplace is a major contributor to our overall stress level. Many things about the organizational setting can influence how stress will impact the worker. During this talk, participants will learn about the physiology of stress, work-related stress variables, healthy job characteristics, symptom recognition, and stress intervention strategies. All levels of your workforce should attend this talk. The results will be a happier and more productive workforce.

Diet & Nutrition

Diets, Diets, Everywhere!
Every time you look up, someone is coming up with a “new” diet. If diets really worked, wouldn’t the first one have worked for everybody? Why do we need so many diets? Do diets even work? This presentation will look at several modern diets from a scientific viewpoint. Diets will be reviewed for their “proposed” purpose, effectiveness, and safety. Because 50% of the American population is on a “diet” at any given time, this is a very important educational topic for your employees.

Simplified Eating for Health and Performance
Proper nutrition plays a major role in our ability to maintain our health and to perform physically in an optimal manner. But what is “proper nutrition?” Much confusion surrounds this topic and it is no wonder that people struggle to understand how, what, and when they should eat. This talk will wade through some of the confusion and present an easy 5-step plan to healthier eating.

Weight Management: What Really Works?
Americans spend $33 billion dollars a year on weight loss products and yet obesity and other body composition problems continue to rise. Obviously, we are not very good at this weight management “thing.” During this presentation, the facts and myths regarding body composition and weight loss will be explored. Common diets and their degree of effectiveness will also be explained. Come hear the simple truth about weight management.

Lifestyle

Fire: Seasonal Work, Year-Long Commitment
Many factors influence your ability to perform effectively and safely in your respective area of fire. Typical American habits, lifestyle choices, common mindsets, standard operating procedures, and resistance to change all contribute to one’s job performance – as well as their health. We will look at some common attitudes many have about their jobs and the pitfalls of such attitudes.

Developing a Positive Mental Outlook
The ability to maintain an appropriate mental mindset at critical moments plays a huge role in our ability to function in an optimal manner – personally, socially, and physically. This presentation looks at mental focus terms such as attention, concentration, attitude, and personality. Behavior modification techniques are discussed in regards to developing selective attentional focus. Participants will be exposed to positive mental outlook skills.

Health: It's a Matter of Choice
The combination of genetic predisposition to disease and lifestyle choices will determine your health status and will impact the quality of your life. In the future, genetic engineering may allow us to alter less-than-perfect genes. But in the meantime, our best line of defense against disease and failing health is making healthy choices in various aspects of your life. This class will help you identify unhealthy lifestyle habits and provide you with practical advice and techniques to promote change.

The Balanced Life
Life is filled with commitments, responsibilities, tasks, and other various activities. How does one balance all of these elements of life? Is it even possible? This high-energy presentation will look at the facts and myths surrounding “The Balanced Life.”

Poor Time Management: A Ticking Time Bomb
The results of poor time management include despair, failure, chronic stress, low productivity, fatigue, slow advancement in the workplace, anxiety, and illness. Healthy and successful people tend to be good time managers. During this presentation, practical time management techniques will be discussed that will help you become an effective time manager in both your personal life and on the job. Time management topics included in this talk are identifying time wasters, goal-setting strategies, eliminating procrastination, effective communication, time management for the project manager, and the most critical step of time management.

A Better Life Through Lifestyle Management
Challenges are a daily occurrence. How we manage these daily challenges plays a major role in determining the quality of our life. Ineffective coping and improper lifestyle choices can lead to “burnout” and can be devastating to our health. This presentation will help you recognize the various distress symptoms (emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and physical) and will expose you to many stress intervention strategies and methods.

Goal Setting and the Art of Change
Change of any kind is difficult and this is especially true for health-related change. Quite often we set ourselves up for failure by “how” we establish a goal. Come hear about the crucial mistake many people make when they set goals. Better yet, come hear about how you can create realistic and attainable health-related goals.

Effective Communication
At Home, Work, and Play
Communication is considered by some as the most important life skill. The four basic forms of communication are writing, reading, speaking, and listening. We use these methods to exchange ideas, transfer information, and engage in personal interaction. The best communicators tend to experience higher levels of success in all aspects of life (home, work, and play). This presentation will take a brief look at what makes an effective communicator. Practical tips will be explained to help you improve in this vital life skill.

Realistic New Year’s Resolutions
With great determination and resolve, each New Year’s Eve thousands of us make a firm decision to change one or more lifestyle habits. Unfortunately for most, our devotedness disappears by January 3rd. What’s up with that? How can your goals and best-laid plans fail so miserably and quickly? During this presentation, you will learn why people do not achieve their goals and how you can plan more wisely for your future goal attainment. Also, a number of specific health goals and plans will be outlined for you to try. We guarantee that if you follow these plans, you will begin to improve your overall health and quality of life.

Exercise

Smart Exercise
To bring about the greatest return for your exercise effort, one must exercise intelligently. When, how much, what should be included, and when not to exercise are all questions that need to be answered in order for exercise to be most effective. During this presentation, you will learn about the components of an exercise program, considerations prior to exercise, how to use your training heart rate, how to stretch effectively, and gain an understanding for the training principles such as “specificity of training” and “progressive overload.” This talk will be beneficial for the first time exerciser – as well as for the old pro.

The “I Hate to Exercise” Exercise Lecture
The benefits of exercise are numerous and nothing impacts your health more positively than exercise. The problem is – you hate to exercise. This talk will help you find ways to reap the benefits of exercise despite your current attitude about exercise. If you are a regular exerciser, this talk will help you become even more consistent and committed to your exercise.

The Ultimate Medicine: Why Exercise is for Everyone
The role of exercise in the prevention of chronic disease is strongly supported by research. Almost all the major “killers” in America can be positively influenced by exercise. This talk will help you understand the health benefits of exercise, recognize the connection between exercise and one’s self-esteem, and learn how exercise can improve the quality of one’s life. Other information covered in this talk will include the Components of an Exercise Program (how to set up a program) and Considerations Prior to an Exercise Program (what to do first). You do not want to miss this humorous, fast-moving, informative talk.

Fitness Testing
ProHealthNet will conduct fitness tests to help determine one’s level of fitness and risk to disease. These tests are voluntary and all results will be kept completely confidential. The tests include a 6-minute submaximal VO2 test (bike ergometer), blood pressure, waist-to-hip ratio, body composition, strength tests, and flexibility tests. The results from these baseline tests can be used to design an employee-based wellness program that will meet the specific needs of your company.