Eden staff have a unique opportunity to learn more about their own health and the health of the individuals they support during a series of monthly workshops hosted by Navigate Health.
Dr. Marc Rubenstein presenting a wellness session
Dr. Marc Rubenstein presenting a wellness talk. Once a month, Dr. Marc Rubenstein and Dr. Stephen Chambers lead a workshop and group discussion covering a different topic surrounding our overall well-being. Topics include movement and exercise, sleep, social connection, resilience, and fuel and nutrition. The goal of the series is to empower and enable Eden staff to better understand their health and learn best practices to get and stay healthy. In turn, they can use their new knowledge to help the individuals they support at Eden lead healthier lifestyles as well.
“I think we all need to improve our health literacy,” said Marc. “Small changes can lead to bigger health changes. They build on each other. Health is not this overwhelming difficult thing where you have to do all kinds of things. We can break it down into smaller pieces that are achievable.”
Dr. Stephen Chambers
Marc first’s introduction to Eden was back in 2019 during the grand opening of the Schalks Crossing Day center for aging adults with autism. “He had had interest as a local partner to learn more about Eden and help our staff and adult participants,” said Jennifer Bizub, Eden Autism Chief Operating Officer.
“We recently got the chance to work together with Dr. Marc and Dr. Stephen where they are providing educational learning opportunities to staff at Schalks Crossing on various topics to help improve their health and wellness as well as Eden’s adult participants,” she said. “We have now opened these educational sessions to all staff since everyone can learn, benefit, and use the techniques and strategies in their daily living.”
Marc and Stephen are aware that there are plenty of barriers people face when trying to live a healthier lifestyle. By providing individuals with the information they need while also addressing the things that hold people back, they hope to show individuals how small changes have massive benefits.
Dr. Marc Rubenstein
“We know it’s not easy, we know there’s a lot of barriers, and we talk about them,” said Marc. “We’ve been told you have to be a certain weight, do these strict diets, and all these things to be healthy, and it’s very overwhelming. Our message is that small changes can lead to bigger changes and that’s really powerful.”
March and Stephen are members of the nonprofit APHPT, Academy of Prevention & Health Promotion Therapies. They hope to share the knowledge they have about health and the body with various groups and populations that can use extra support. “It’s hard to take care of other people unless you’re healthy and you’re feeling good,” he said.
Part of the sessions also ties into how Eden staff can improve the health of the individuals they support. They discuss healthy activities and various forms of exercise for all functional abilities.
“We want people to feel good about themselves,” said Marc. “We’re really grateful for this opportunity to work with Eden, an organization that has done so much for so many people. Just to be able to help the people that help others, we love doing this. And we’re grateful for the opportunity to be part of their health journey.”
Eden staff can attend Navigate Health sessions on December 2 and January 13 virtually or in-person at the Schalks Crossing conference room.
