The Ohio Disability and Health Program held two Healthy Lifestyles for People with Disabilities Train-the-Trainer (T-the-T) workshops March 21-25th for individuals committed to teaching people with disabilities about living a healthy life. Master Trainers, Angela Weaver from the Oregon Office on Disability and Health, and Joe Basey from the City of Eugene Adaptive Recreation conducted the Healthy Lifestyles T-the-T workshop. Workshop attendees who completed the T-the-T workshop were certified as HL Lead Trainers and were provided with a curriculum/trainer’s guide and other materials they will need to implement the HL workshops with their perspective agencies.
Over 50 service coordinators, activity directors, habilitation specialists, nurses, and other service professionals working in the field of disabilities from Northwest, Northeast, Southern, and Central Ohio came to Columbus to share experiences and learn about implementing the Healthy Lifestyles curriculum into their agencies. Many attendees expressed their appreciation and satisfaction of the workshop, including one person who shared, “I thought the interactiveness of the training was great. The straight-forwardness of the curriculum gives me confidence that I will be successful at implementation.â€
Another attendee expressed, “The two presenters were excellent. I hope that I can develop a relationship with a co-presenter that works as well as theirs did for getting the information successfully delivered. They were great at keeping us all engaged and managing time.â€
The Healthy Lifestyles for People with Disabilities Program takes a holistic approach to wellness and is based on an evidence-based curriculum which was designed and created for, and by, people with disabilities. The workshop is often peer facilitated and embodies the self-determination model. Its ultimate goal is to give participants the tools they need to evaluate their current life situations, identify areas they would like to improve and make positive life changes.  The curriculum focuses on five areas of a healthy lifestyle: Emotional, Social, Physical, and Spiritual Health and Healthy through Meaningful Activities with an emphasis on how the areas are interconnected.
Future Healthy Lifestyle Train-the-Trainer workshops will be offered in Ohio. The next workshop is scheduled for June 9th and 10th in Shaker Heights, Ohio. For more information, please contact Erica Coleman: Erica.Coleman@cchmc.org