In November 2009, Canyon Ranch Institute (CRI) and Sullivan County Memorial Hospital (SCMH) received a two-year grant to conduct a health literacy demonstration project. The demonstration project is part of Health Literacy Missouri, and supported and funded by Missouri Foundation for Health. The Canyon Ranch Institute Life Enhancement Program is a dynamic program that aims to transfer the best practices of Canyon Ranch to underserved communities to prevent, diagnose, and address chronic diseases through an integrative health model.
SCMH is a Critical Access Hospital in rural North Central Missouri and is the only hospital in Sullivan County. SCMH has a Rural Health Clinic physically located in the hospital with two satellite clinics open three half-days per week in neighboring communities. SCMH has been serving Sullivan County for more than 55 years. The mission of SCMH is “to meet the healthcare needs of our community by providing quality health services designed to restore and cultivate good health.”
The CRI LEP curriculum is being adapted in collaboration with the core team of the CRI LEP in Sullivan County in order to effectively meet the program’s objectives of increasing health literacy, improving nutrition and physical activity, enhancing self-efficacy, and reducing stress. Each CRI LEP is customized based on the culture, context, and health needs of a specific community. The CRI LEP in Sullivan County is the first CRI LEP to focus on a rural community.
Funding for the CRI LEP in Sullivan County is provided in whole by the Missouri Foundation for Health, a philanthropic organization whose vision is to improve the health of the people in the communities it serves.
Core Team Training
The CRI LEP in Sullivan County core team members began the first part of their training in early 2010 in Tucson, AZ, by attending the Canyon Ranch Life Enhancement Program. During their stay, they participated in interactive classes that emphasized taking small steps for behavior change, healthy eating, portion size awareness, sleeping well for health, empowerment to set personal health goals, and the importance of social support in achieving goals.
In March 2010, CRI Health Literacy and Research Director Andrew Pleasant, Ph.D., Partnerships and Policies Director Christine L. Sardo, M.P.H., R.D., and CRI LEP Program Manager Sereti Venzin, M.P.H., collaborated with Sullivan County Hospital to facilitate a four-day training program in Milan, MO, for core team members. During their visit, CRI team members discussed health literacy, nutrition, and living with a sense of purpose. They also led a CRI LEP program preview for Sullivan County community members. In the preview, the core team presented condensed versions of their CRI LEP sessions, and afterward, community members participated in a focus group, contributing feedback about the program. A focus group was also conducted among the CRI LEP in Sullivan County core team members to learn more about their perspectives about the training.
The First Class Begins
The first class of 20 Sullivan County residents began on June 17, 2010. The class includes a wide variety of community members, such as city government representatives, schoolteachers, grocery store owners, hospital employees, self-employed farmers, and stay-at-home mothers. The CRI LEP in Sullivan County core team that is facilitating the first and subsequent classes includes a physician, nutritionist, exercise professional, social worker, registered nurse, and pastor. A selection of informational lectures, group fitness and stress-management activities, a grocery-shopping excursion, and one-on-one planning sessions for setting health-related goals occur one evening per week for twelve weeks in the Milan community center and a local gym. The next class is scheduled to begin in August 2010.
Partnership Photographs:
Canyon Ranch Institute Partnerships and Policies Director Christine L. Sardo, M.P.H., R.D., talks with core team members of the CRI LEP in Sullivan County about shopping on the perimeter of the grocery store where the healthiest foods, like fresh fruits and vegetables, are located. The excursion to the Richardson Supermarket was part of the training for the core team members. (March 26, 2010, Milan, MO, © Canyon Ranch Institute, Andrew Pleasant photographer)
Training for the core team members of the CRI LEP in Sullivan County included the Where’s the Joy? session that reconnects participants to the relaxed feelings that result from doing simple and fun activities. (March 26, 2010, Milan, MO, © Canyon Ranch Institute, Andrew Pleasant, photographer)
Canyon Ranch Institute CRI LEP Program Manager Sereti Venzin, M.P.H.,and CRI LEP in Sullivan County core team members Mary Updyke, R.D., LeAnn Lorence, and Vivian Hall, N.P, talk with Milan grocer Javier Curiel. .Working with members of the Milan community is an important objective of CRI LEP in Sullivan County. (March 26, 2010, Milan, MO, © Canyon Ranch Institute, Andrew Pleasant, photographer)
Partnership Resources:
- Click here to learn more about the CRI LEP.
- Click here to visit the Sullivan County Memorial Hospital website.
- Click here to visit the Missouri Foundation for Health website.
- Click here to visit the Health Literacy Missouri website.
2009
- Click here to read about the CRI-Sullivan County Memorial Hospital Partnership Receiving a Health Literacy Grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health
