Winning Health Promotion Strategies

Our society is facing a health crisis. Sedentary lifestyles, poor nutrition, and overcommitted schedules have led to obesity, chronic disease, elevated stress, and a host of other health problems for large segments of the population. The recent publication of the U.S. Health and Human Services Physical Activity Guidelines and launch of the National Physical Activity Plan have brought much-needed attention to these issues. These documents offer a road map for those working to promote healthier lifestyle choices, but it can be difficult to turn the guidelines into programs that appeal to the people most in need of help. Winning Health Promotion Strategies offers guidance to anyone looking to encourage the members of their communities, schools, and workplaces to make positive lifestyle changes.

In Winning Health Promotion Strategies, the author shares tips, techniques, and success stories based on her experiences implementing the governor's award-winning Get Fit Rhode Island program, which was instrumental in Rhode Island's being named the first Well State in the nation by the Wellness Councils of America. She has also gathered examples from model initiatives and evidence-based programs and advice from experts in the wellness industry that will help you better understand all of the factors involved in starting or improving your own initiatives. The book provides everything you need to succeed, whether your goal is to start a new program or to increase the visibility of existing programs:

- Information on the benefits of health and wellness programming in various settings that will help you show return on investment, making it easier to gain approval and support for your programs

- A step-by-step approach to program design and implementation that will make it easier for even those with little experience to develop successful initiatives

- Tips and techniques for maximizing participation by attracting new participants while keeping existing participants fully engaged

- Strategies for assessing and evaluating your initiatives and using that information to sustain or improve your programming

- 55 proven programs that can be used to jump-start your initiatives, whether you are scheduling stand-alone events or planning a longer-term intervention program

The ready-to-use programs in Winning Health Promotion Strategies cover a wide variety of wellness topics, including physical activity, motivation to exercise, nutrition, stress reduction, general well-being, and cancer prevention. Each program includes everything you need in order to educate and inspire your participants. You'll find a brief introduction to the program, a discussion of its effectiveness, a list of goals, tips for carrying out the program, and suggestions for tailoring the program to meet the needs of your organization. A key categorizes the programs by setting (school, community, or worksite), type (awareness, education, or intervention), and cost, and an activity finder will help you quickly locate the programs that best fit your needs. Throughout the book you'll also find sample program materials, such as handouts and log sheets.

Winning Health Promotion Strategies will help you step up to the challenge of inspiring healthier living in your community. Both new and veteran programmers will find the tips, tecchniques, strategies, and support they need in order to engage and entertain their participants while teaching them the skills for making the right choices about their health and wellness.

Anne Marie Ludovici-Connolly has over 30 years of experience in the health and wellness industry. From 2005 to 2008, Ludovici-Connolly served as director of the Governor's Get Fit Rhode Island program, a statewide wellness initiative. She conducted a wide range of research projects and also developed and taught various health and wellness courses for the University of Rhode Island. She was owner and operator of Wakefield Health and Fitness for eight years. She is currently a national senior consultant and subject matter expert in health and productivity for Hewitt Associates, a global HR consulting and outsourcing company, and also serves as a scholar in residence at the University of Rhode Island's Cancer Prevention Research Center, home of the transtheoretical model of behavior change.

Ludovici-Connolly earned her bachelor's degree in business administration and marketing from the University of Rhode Island in 1982 and her master's degree in the psychosocial aspects of exercise physiology from the University of Rhode Island in 2002. She is an ACSM-certified health fitness specialist and has served on the committees of numerous national and state organizations, including IDEA, IHRSA, the Medical Wellness Association, and the National Association for Health and Wellness. She was named IDEA's Northeast Region Aerobic Instructor of the Year in 1989 and was given the Wellness Inspiration Award by Discover Wellness in 2007.

Ludovici-Connolly lives in Wakefield, Rhode Island. In her free time she enjoys music, traveling and skiing with her family, cooking, and exercising.