PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Cindy’s lifelong passion is to improve the quality of life for as many people as possible. Cindy began at the bedside, quickly understanding the real work is in disease prevention. Cindy continues her education with a focus on health coaching and wellness consulting while holding the position Qualified National Marketing Director with The Juice Plus+ Company.  

Cindy is very proud to have completed the WELCOA Faculty and WELCOA certification. The WELCOA 7 Benchmarks have been critical in transitioning to evidence based, results oriented wellness practices. Cohen is an avid blogger and wellness script writer. 

DEMONSTRATED SUCCESS

A big concern in promoting health and wellness is how to identify then implement programs, initiatives that engage others to take responsibility for their health. The first step is for people to understand it’s their responsibility to take charge of their health. Once this happens health improvement doesn’t three years it happens in a matter of weeks.  

For example, the belief historically has been health improvement can take up to 3 years. This belief causes a disinterest in putting dollars in to workplace wellness. There is a general concern about what will happen with the changes in the health care environment.

Cindy’s team found health improvement can be demonstrated in as little as 12 weeks. The health impact was measured by how many day of work missed, insurance usage and productivity. When this happens companies and organizations are more likely to invest in their employees. In partnership with the American Heart Association it was demonstrated 100% of those who participated reported they were able to sustain healthy eating practices, activity levels and continued healthy lifestyle changes 6 months following the program.

Great news the outcomes from this program exceed the 2012 RAND Study which demonstrated 50% improvement in health status.  Statistically this is what happened:

• 100% lowered blood pressure
• 84% lowered total cholesterol
• 98% body mass index
• 75% lowered, low density cholesterol (LDL, “bad”)
• 89% lower percentage of body fat

Another company reduced their sick days by 75% in 12 months, doctor visits reduced from total 29 to 6 visits (averaging 1.7 per person) and OTC medications from total of 56 to 20 (averaging 3.29 per person).

For the above companies we found the intervention that works the best is individual coaching with group encouragement and support.  However, for some companies and organizations a health fair was a good kick off, to identify areas of general health interest. In a preferred partnership with a local chamber organization, member businesses were encouraged to start up wellness activities and were recognized for any effort towards wellness.  

For example a 1st level award  is presented to businesses that are just getting started encouraging, educating and supporting health and wellness activities for themselves, their employees and support staff. The 2nd level award is for businesses who already have wellness programing going but want to increase participation.

All of the WELCOA 7 Benchmarks are critical to positive health outcomes. Just like each of the spokes on a bike wheel are necessary for the wheels of the bike to equally support the rider, each of the 7 benchmarks are equally important to support programing that creates an engaged company producing a healthy bottom line at work and at home.    

LEADERSHIP

Inspiring healthy living is Cindy’s mission and passion. Everyone who meets Cindy learns some new strategy to get healthier. The message is you get healthy, help others get healthy and together we create a healthier community. How does Cindy walk the talk? On any given day she is modeling healthy living behaviors, teaching others what she has learned to improve her own health as well as others by utilizing social media, workshops and seminars. You will see her regularly at community health walks, fairs and her Expo for Women spreading the message of good health and encouraging others to be ambassadors of healthy living sharing what they learn with their friends and family anyone can get healthier by making one simple healthy lifestyle change each month.

Cindy’s best advice to build credibility and leadership status is to attend WELCOA educational programs, get WELCOA certified, attend professional wellness and leadership conferences, stay current and write a book.

INNOVATION

In health coaching the popular model is focused on personalized behavior change. When C2 Your Health used this model the average participants health improvement score outperformed the 2012 RAND Study by 30%.

To improve outcomes a personalized wellness vision was constructed including the participants close relationships resulting in a community of health. The highest long term improvements were seen in this group.

The health improvements began within a 30 – 60 day window, 100% eating more fruits and vegetables, making better food choices and increased awareness of lifestyle choices. 90% reported feeling more alert, energized and productive.

The big idea is within the health coaching format develop a since of inclusiveness through a community of relationships, all having the same vision of health and wellness. This happens when the participant learns health strategies then shares what they learned within their community of relationships. This moves health coaching to a new level. 

COMPELLING VISION

The biggest threat is the uncertainty of our health care system. This national health crisis is creating skepticism surrounded by the hidden agendas of physicians, hospitals and drug companies. Rising medical expenses and mandatory health insurance are creating the perfect storm for mounting distrust in our current health care system and everything that goes into it.

The opportunity is people are starting to see, their wellness is in their hands. With a clear understanding of no one will take care of you like you do, people are looking for self-care solutions like never before.

Over this past year Cindy has spear-headed teams of like-minded individuals and companies to meet then develop strategic partnerships focusing on developing healthy communities within the workplace, organizations, associations, and churches. Over the next 5 years people will be building bridges to better health as a grass roots movement and we’ll be there.