The course is a six week course with each session taking approx 2.5 hours and it is open to anyone who wishes to take part. It is especially aimed at people who have one or more chronic health conditions but it is also for people who care for or live with someone who has a condition too. The course has the full approval of both Federal and State health departments and has over many years been researched and evaluated to ensure its suitability and quality of delivery. It is currently being used by many countries alongside other health initiatives with the aim of giving participants the confidence and tools they may need to better manage their lives and chronic conditions. The course was devised by Stanford University (California) approx thirty years ago and has over the years been updated to keep up with medical trends, more information can be found on their website at patienteducation.stanford.edu/index.html

Here  in Whyalla the course will generally be facilitated by two volunteer peer leaders working for In Our Hands Health Information & Resource Centre Inc. who themselves will probably have a chronic health condition. These leaders have been trained to run the course and do so under licence by both Stanford University and the South Australian State Health Dept. Working in partnership with the Whyalla Hospital these courses are freely available to the public and will be run on a regular basis throughout the year. The course can also be run for an individual organisation at a venue of their choosing and at a time that suits them (depends on leader availability).

The Pathway to healthier Living Program is not a health lecture in any shape or form, it is a very interactive course where you will learn from each other and have some fun at the same time. The course is structured to make sure it runs to time each week and there is a short refreshment break (provided), you will be free to move around and be comfortable at all times. Some of the topics we will cover are,
Relaxation techniques
Healthy eating
Goal setting
Problem solving
Exercise, when, how much, where etc.
Muscle relaxation, Pain Management and many other topics too.

Attendance of the full six weeks is desirable to get the most out of it but we respect that you may have appointments etc that you cannot miss, research shows that attending four weeks or more will be beneficial for most people. If you miss out on some sessions we would recommend that you “catch up” by joining in another course at a later date. A typical course would generally have between 12 & 20 participants from all walks of life but all sharing one thing, they all have or care for someone with a chronic illness and all of them want to make a change for the better in the way they live with that ill-ness, so you will not feel “different or left out”. Age is not a concern, many young people have chronic conditions and by having a mix of all age groups in a course it will enhance the sharing of experiences and knowledge among the group.
Our courses will be generally run at Whyalla Hospital, we will always advise you by letter where any particular course will take place. There is no need to bring anything along, we have everything you will need, you can take notes if you wish but most people don’t. There is a book that relates to the course and we will loan one to you for the duration of the course, if you wish to buy one at any time it sells for $44.00, just ask your leaders for details. We don’t charge for the course, but we will gladly accept your gold coin donation to cover our costs.
If you require any further information with regard to this course please call in to
Health In Our Hands, 3rd floor Whyalla Hospital,
phone 86488463