POSITIVE OUTCOMES FROM HEALTH STRUGGLES

Published: 2020
By Janell Barber

For people living with chronic physical and mental conditions like arthritis, diabetes, lung or heart complications, uncertainty, loneliness, despair and suffering are their reality every day. To bring them together to learn about and incorporate some positive changes into managing and living with chronic conditions, Chouteau County MSU Extension and the Chouteau County Public Health offices partnered to offer the Montana Living Life Well Chronic Disease Management Program. Eight participants engaged in six sessions held once per week. For a rural and small community, one of the unexpected surprises was having a group of people who had mostly never met each other. By the conclusion, they connected through their similarities and differences. Even though they did not share the same chronic conditions, they felt supported by each other, realizing they were not alone and looked forward to coming each week. These eight participants successfully completed weekly SMART goal activities related to improving their physical activity, nutrition, to-do lists and self-care. They celebrated successes and supported one another when challenges arose. They reassessed and brain-stormed ideas together about what could be done differently when life did not go as planned. From the perspective of the presenters, the observed outcomes and successes well-exceeded the objectives of the program. The participants conquered aspects of their lives they did not have knowledge about or confidence to try before the class. One participant shared “valuable information” was gained from the class and another said “meeting other people who have as much pain and coping with it as I do” was what they liked most about the class. Participants gave high ratings to the program around: feeling more confident about making decisions to improve their health; learning new tools for better problem solving; and, learning more about how to deal with difficult emotions.