Aloha … from BethCHealthier Living Workshops
begin April 20 at Gifford
Free classes to be held in the evenings
RANDOLPH, April 6, 2010 – Healthier Living Workshops are offered for free as part of the Vermont Blueprint for Health, a statewide effort to improve health and the health care system in Vermont.
Gifford Medical Center
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| Lois and Clayton Butterfield are known in part for Clayton’s 1946 Chevy he uses to pick up trash in the downtown. The Randolph couple is staying active in their community thanks in part to a Healthier Living Workshop series they recently completed at Gifford Medical Center. They learned about managing their illnesses, communication, goal setting and more. The next series of free workshops starts April 20 at Gifford. |
offers the free workshops, and a new class is slated to start
on April 20 – this time in the evenings. The next series of free workshops will be held Tuesdays, April 20 through May 25 from 5:30-8 p.m. in the Gifford Conference Center.
Healthier Living Workshops are self-help groups, with trained facilitators, designed to help individuals with chronic conditions and their caregivers manage their disease and improve their health.
For individuals with arthritis, asthma, heart disease, diabetes, emphysema, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis and other chronic illnesses, these six-week classes are designed to add vitality to participants’ lives and provide tools to better deal with frustration, fatigue and pain.
They also help to improve strength, flexibility and endurance as well as provide tips for managing medications, eating healthier and improving communications with family, friends and health care providers.
According to the Vermont Department of Health, past participants report increased energy, reduced stress, more self-confidence and fewer doctors’ visits as a result.
Lois and Clayton Butterfield recently completed the workshop series.
“It taught us to set our goals and make sure we did them, and how to think positively. (It helped with) communication, our medications and how to set the right diet,” says Lois, who suffered a heart attack two years ago on Mother’s Day. Clayton has diabetes.
The couple has been married nearly 53 years, and, as a couple, had plenty of fun participating.
“It was kind of a fun deal,” says Clayton. “(The facilitator) said you two should come for every class.”
Some past participants have taken the workshop again.
“They’ve told us they enjoy the group support and wanted to continue to hone their management skills for their chronic conditions,” notes Susan Delattre, who coordinates Gifford’s Healthier Living Workshops.
“These classes are really for anyone who is living with a chronic condition and hoping to improve their quality of life,” notes Delattre. “Living with a chronic condition can also be isolating, so this is also an opportunity to meet others coping with illness.”
The Butterfields certainly made friends and they bonded with other participants.
“Strangers are just friends we haven’t met yet,” says a light-hearted (and laugh-a-minute) Clayton.
“We did enjoy it. I would advise anybody who’s got a problem to go to this,” adds Lois. “It’s a good thing for the community.”
The hospital and conference center are located at 44 S. Main St. (Route 12) in Randolph. Call Delattre at 728-2118 to register or for more information.