Happy, Healthy and Well

You can improve the health and wellness of folks in your setting! Here's how to get started:

Who should be on the team? Anyone who is interested!
Invite people to get involved. Hold an introductory meeting and bring healthy snacks for those who attend.
Buddy up with your current wellness group if you have one. The Happy, Healthy and Well materials can be incorporated into activities you might already be doing. For example, if your wellness group holds a health fair, host a booth where attendees can play one of the Eat the Right Amount games.
Partner with any health educators you already have at your setting, such as dietitians or nurses. Invite them to join your team.
Identify someone to be the point person or coordinator for Happy, Healthy and Well. This role can be as big or as small as you make it. The coordinator can organize wellness events, train interested staff on the materials, and provide monthly reminders about using the materials or incorporating wellness goals with the people they support.
Invite administrators, executive directors, program managers and supervisors to join in. Other staff members are more likely to get involved and stay involved if the project is
supported by your agency’s leadership.

Identify some simple goals you want to accomplish at your agency to improve wellness. Some examples are: add wellness as a regular agenda item at team meetings, serve healthy food in place of cake at birthday celebrations, organize a group walk once a month, or add nutrition or physical activity to person's plan. You can choose things that are general, or more specific, it’s up to you!
Consider adapting wellness policies at your setting, to support your goals. You can find a toolkit for getting started on the Healthy Maine Partnerships website's Resources and Useful Links page. On that page, scroll down and look for "Physical Activity and Nutrition Action Packets." The packets have lots of information on strategies for making your agency a healthy place.
Keep track of the wellness activities your agency participates in or develops. It will help keep you motivated to see all the great things you are doing to encourage people to be healthy. Make a simple list every month. Feel free to use our “Wellness Tracking Sheet.”

Invite your coordinator or wellness group to present some of the HHW materials at a regularly scheduled meeting, or carve out time just for this.
Invite your health educator, dietitian, or nurse to provide nutrition training to your agency. This will reinforce the work your Happy, Healthy and Well team is doing.
Talk about ways staff can use the materials in their every day work with consumers. Give specific examples that will work at your setting.
Explore the Games and toolkits together. Explain the role of Nutrition Coach that is outlined in the front of either of the Games workbooks.
Talk about change and how it happens slowly, over time. It’s important for staff to understand that small steps can lead to big changes.
Practice playing some of the Eat the Right Amount Games.

Share the wealth! Hand out copies of the resources so lots of people have access to them. Some agencies give each residence or program a copy, and some give them to team leaders. Do what makes sense for your setting.
Invite consumers to use the materials with you. Try a new recipe together, experiment with the physical activity suggestions, play one of the Eat the Right Amount or Learning About Carbs games or use the Healthy Eating Habits Checklist.
Visit the Happy, Healthy and Well website to find articles, nutrition tips and physical activity ideas.
Ask staff and consumers to share with others what they’ve done to improve wellness. Getting healthy and feeling good can be contagious!
Provide monthly reminders to keep the momentum going.

Celebrate your successes, big and small.
Keep track of the changes you’ve made, so you can look back and see how far you’ve come.
Challenge yourselves and periodically set new goals!