The Spectrum

The Spectrum is a scientifically proven program to help participants feel better, live longer, lose weight and gain health.

The Spectrum is a 6 week group-based educational program based on the research of Dr. Dean Ornish. It is for individuals and their family members who want to prevent disease, reduce the risk for developing chronic conditions, or learn lifestyle changes that can help manage diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and cancer.

The program combines the tenets of the Dr. Dean Ornish Program for Reversing Heart Disease and his book, The Spectrum. It is an enhancement of the previous Ornish Advantage program and is infused with the latest research of Dr. Ornish and other health experts.

The Spectrum provides a personalized approach to customize a way of eating, managing stress, exercising and being socially connected, based on each individual’s desires, needs and genetic predispositions.

An underlying theme of The Spectrum is that our genes are not our fate. The choices we make each day in our diet and lifestyle have a direct influence on how our genetic predisposition is expressed – for better and for worse. How genes are expressed may be modified by exercise, diet and lifestyle choices much more than had previously been believed…and more quickly.

The four components of the program are: The Nutrition Spectrum, The Exercise Spectrum, The Stress Management Spectrum and The Social Support Spectrum. Each lecture includes a stress management activity/practice to help participants build a customized stress management program. In addition, each lecture includes as a review of all the Spectrums, with practical tools and tips to achieve wellness goals.

Discover Relaxation Within

Discover Relaxation Within is an interactive wellness and lifestyle improvement program designed to identify and reduce personal stress through practical relaxation techniques and innovative stress management strategies. It is educational, experiential and actionable and is offered in a group-based setting. There are two courses - Discover Relaxation Within I and Discover Relaxation Within II. Discover Relaxation Within I is a prerequisite for Discover Relaxation Within II. Both courses are offered as either four 90-minute or six 60-minute sessions.

Drop 10 in 10

Drop 10 in 10 is a group-based 10-week weight management program designed to help participants lose 10 pounds (or 10 percent) of their body weight through and intensive program of optimal nutrition, regular exercise and behavior change. (Note: Participants are given the option to establish lower weight loss goals if desired or appropriate.) Drop 10 in 10 is designed to help individuals move away from the all or nothing mentality of fad dieting to the philosophy of making meaningful and long-lasting nutrition, exercise and lifestyle changes.

Studies show that reducing weight by 10 percent can reduce the risk or improve the management of chronic diseases associated with excess weight, such as high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes. This is why Drop 10 in 10 focuses on an aggressive 10 percent goal. We know that experiencing success is motivating, and this program strives to educate, motivate, inspire and transform.

The program includes a combination of educational lectures, experiential activities, self-study, self-monitoring and personal goal setting. Participants should be encouraged to take advantage of Personal Nutrition Coaching^SM to allow for program customization to meet individual needs. (Personal Nutrition Coaching appointments should be scheduled within the established program parameters of seven visits per calendar year.)

Research has shown that people are more successful when they team up for weight loss because of the accompanying encouragement, accountability and motivation. For that reason, we encourage participants to enroll in the program with friends, co-workers or family members or to team up with a fellow participant, in addition to the group support.

Eat Well for Life

Eat Well for Life is a lifestyle improvement program that promotes making healthly food and lifestyle choices and adopting the practices necessary to achieve a balanced lifestyle, long-term weight management and optimal health and wellness.  Eat Well for Life is not a diet or strict weight loss program but a program about better living without dieting.  Eat Well for Life includes a combination of educational lectures, self-study and goal setting components, and experimental activities such as a grocery store tour and food preparation demonstration.

In Eat Well for Life I, participants learn the difference between dieting and lifestyle change, experiment with different strategies for meal planning and portion control, maintain Lifestyle Logs, explore the whole foods concept, take a grocery store tour and enjoy a cooking demonstration to learn how to prepare foods that enhances health and wellness.

Eat Well for Life II is a continuation of Eat Well for Life I.  It continues the focus on lifestyle improvement through making healthy food and lifestyle choices and incorporates high quality nutrition, exercise, the Mediterranean Pyramid, mindful eating, food and mood, personal resilience, dining out and preparing meals on the run.

Eat Well for Life is offered in four weekly 90-minutes of six weekly 60-minute sessions.

HOPE

HOPE (Highmark Osteoporosis Education Program) is an interactive wellness and lifestyle improvement program that focuses on healthy choices to improve bone health and prevent or manage osteoporosis including nutrition, exercise, stress management, supplementation and other lifestyle habits.  HOPE takes a comprehensive look at bone health and osteoporosis prevention through a combination of educational lectures, self-study, goal setting components, experiential activities and group exercise.  The program is six weekly two-hour sessions, twelve (12) weekly one-hour sessions, or twelve (12) one-hour sessions two times per week.

Health on the Menu

Health on the Menu is a series of one-hour stand-alone wellness workshops that promote healthy lifestyles to Highmark Members and the community at large.  Health on the Menu workshops are designed to be educational, interactive, motivational and action-oriented.  The workshops are an ideal forum for individuals seeking to learn more about taking an active role in their health.  They can also serve to provide new ideas, reinforcement and motivation to the seasoned wellness champion.  Workshop topics include:

Personal Nutrition Coaching

Personal Nutrition Coaching is a one-on-one counseling service with a registered dietitian designed to help individuals make healthy lifestyle and nutrition changes for issues related to weight management, heart health, diabetes and other health issues.  The goal of Personal Nutrition Coaching is to provide an individualized nutrition plan that addresses specific needs, with accompanying referral(s) to appropriate group or web-based lifestyle improvement programs available through Highmark Preventive Health Services.  Highmark members are allotted one (1) initial coaching session and six (6) follow-up coaching sessions per calendar year at the Preventative Health Alliance sites.

Personal Nutrition Coaching is not intended to simply be nutrition education or traditional nutrition counseling.  Using the coaching model, Personal Nutrition Coaching strives to empower individuals toward sustained, healthy lifestyle changes by assisting them in setting goals and overcoming challenges.  While Personal Nutrition Coaching is not a long-term, intensive intervention, it may be used as an ongoing intervention.

Personal Nutrition Coaching is also available for children and teens who are overweight, have diabetes or are at risk for developing diabetes.  The goal of Personal Nutrition Coaching is to help children, adolescents and their families adopt lifestyle behaviors that facilitate health and long-term weight management.  Parents/guardians must accompany children and teens, and sign/complete all required paperwork and enrollment forms.