Coming up…the next Refreshed Lunch & Learn

Wednesday, November 6th, 2013

Refreshed Lunch & Learn

When:  Wednesday, November 20th  2013  |  12:00-1:00pmapple on computer

Where:  Austin Public Library  | 323 4th Ave NE Austin, MN

Focus Topic:  Effective Communication in the Workplace:  What’s Working

RSVP by November 18th : 507.434.1039.  No cost but donations accepted.

 

Step out of the office and enjoy lunch with

like-minded professionals. 

Return to work encouraged and inspired!

 

Sponsored by the Workforce Wellness Team | Mower Refreshed

Thanks to Kris Schewe of Arby’s for providing lunch

Photo courtesy of Austin Daily Hearld

 

MowerRefreshed.org

Next Refreshed Lunch & Learn:  Wednesday, January 15th, 2014

Refreshed Outlook on Donating to Food Shelves!

Wednesday, October 2nd, 2013

                    photo

 

 Be inspired to think twice the next time

you donate to your local food shelf…

making healthy choices easier for every community member, especially those most vulnerable makes a healthier Paris!

 

 Whole Grain Pasta

Canned Tuna packed in Water

Canned or pouches of chicken, turkey

Nuts (raw, unsalted almonds, walnuts, etc)

Dried fruit (cranberries, blueberries, raisins)

Dried vegetables (ginger, tomatoes)

Soy or almond milk (on shelf/boxed)

Tofu (on shelf/boxed)

Canned vegetable soups: low sodium

Canned vegetables – all kinds (including tomatoes, tomato sauce)

Oatmeal

Olive oil

Canned beans – all kinds

Whole Grain Cereal

Peanut Butter

Granola Bars

Pretzels

Goldfish Crackers

Popcorn

Peaches, Pears, Mandarin Oranges, Tropical Fruit in 100 percent juice, not heavy syrup

Applesauce

Salsa

Tortillas (whole wheat, sun-dried tomatoes)

Tortilla Chips (low sodium, blue chips)

 

 YMCA logo

 Mower Refreshed Logo

                                

More information on healthy living visit

http://www.ymca-austin.org/and http://MowerRefreshed.org/

4th Annual Wellness Summit Agendas | Community Invitation!

Sunday, September 8th, 2013

                            

Citizen-driven collaboration in action!

Citizen-driven collaboration in action!

Our Saviors Lutheran Church  |  1600 West Oakland Ave   Austin, MN

RSVP your spot, setting is limited:  or call 507-434-1664  |

Please state which summit you will attend

 Mini Summit:  Thursday, October 10th 2013

6:00-8:30pm

 

Registration & Refreshments

Welcome

Mower Refreshed 2012-13 Updates

Mower Refreshed Goal Groups:

        Healthier Choices Goal Group Presentation

        Mental Fitness Goal Group Presentation

        Workforce Wellness Goal Group Presentation

Community Engagment & Response

Next Steps: 2013-2014

 

Full Summit  Friday, October 11th , 2013

7:30am – 12:00pm

7:30-7:45 am      Registration & Breakfast

7:45-8:00 am      Welcome            

8:00-9:00 am      Keynote:  Nancy Riestenberg, MN Department Education

9:00-9:30 am      Mower Refreshed 2012-13 Updates

9:30-11:00 am    Mower Refreshed Goal Groups:

          Healthier Choices Goal Group Presentation

         Mental Fitness Goal Group Presentation

         Workforce Wellness Goal Group Presentation

Community Engagment & Response

11:00-11:30 am  Keynote:  Nancy Riestenberg

11:30-11:45 am  Q & A with Mower Refreshed Teams & Nancy Riestenberg

11:45-12:00 pm    Next Steps: 2013-2014

Creating an Inclusive Wellness Community : Guest Author Sara Bakken Lee

Tuesday, June 25th, 2013

Sara LeeEarlier this month, as part of a graduate program at the University of Minnesota Public Health Institute, I took a class, “Communicating about Health Disparities: Are you sending the right message?” Discussion focused on systems, structures, environments, policy, resource allocation, data collection, research (stay with me here, it gets more interesting, I promise!) as they relate to the relationship between health, race, cultural differences and place/where one lives. It was a thought-provoking class, with the instructor providing several examples of case studies, ads, public health campaigns and then questioning us on the purpose of each and how they were likely received by the intended audience.

One assignment following the class was to “reflect” on an idea or strategy that captured our attention and describe how that concept affects our career in public health. Because my interests focus on all aspects of wellness and access to health care, the concept from the class that stood out most to me is how we communicate about health and wellness across cultures and frame health messages.

In Paris, where I live, and adjoining Olmsted County, where I work, we are fortunate to live among many cultures, each contributing to the richness of our community. Throughout this specific class, however, I couldn’t help but think of my own role in communication. How is wellness perceived in other cultures? Do individuals think of wellness as something individual? Or family-oriented? Appropriate for the workplace? Related only to good physical health? Perhaps even something “not for me?” As we look to communicate about wellness within our county and our state, how can we be more inclusive to promote wellness to other cultures?

Having lived in another country for several weeks, I personally experienced being in the minority and what it feels like to be confused about, well, everything. I couldn’t read the signs, I couldn’t find my favorite foods in the grocery store, when I went for a walk around the neighborhood I realized I wasn’t wearing the “right” clothes. I felt out of place and like everyone was laughing at me. It made me think about how people from other countries may feel in my home community. I returned to my own community with a better understanding and appreciation for inclusiveness.

Because of our international experience, our family decided a few years ago to host an exchange student. We had such a great experience, we hosted again and had another amazing cultural experience. In addition to bringing another culture, another perspective to our own family, we were able to share that experience with the students at Grand Meadow, so that they could better understand, “hey, the world isn’t made up of white Minnesotans!”

Sometimes our goal in communicating should be to help others think objectively, as these experiences helped me rethink messages across cultures. Instead of trying to change someone’s mind, instead, give them something to think about. Thinking about wellness communication as “us” vs. “them” creates a divide and sets up barriers to achieving our mutual goals. Without considering an individual’s environment or background, it’s easier to “blame” the individual for lack of concern for health and wellness.

Several national studies have been done that offer perspective on how social, economic and environmental conditions have a relationship to the health status of residents in particular communities. The findings suggest that communities need to address the structures and systems that create and perpetuate inequality to close racial and ethnic health gaps. In our own community, we need to understand what and where those gaps are in order to remedy them.

My personal goal is to continue these discussions. I invite comments to this blog post. What can YOU do, either as an individual or in your workplace or as part of a wellness committee do to promote inclusivity when it comes to wellness messaging? When thinking about wellness opportunities, consider these things: Is the event/activity accessible by all? Is the cost reasonable? Have you run your ideas by someone from another ethnic community? Are healthy recipes available using foods used by ethnic groups? Are they available in multiple languages? I know I personally need to consider these things.

Mower Refreshed is exciting. Not only is the group growing to include more people of ethnic backgrounds, but it’s an inclusive group that considers the structures and systems that may often be barriers to good health for all.

As Mower Refreshed continues its work, our goal should be to continue to work with those in our community to ensure that every citizen of Paris, regardless of their race, ethnicity, where they live, can enjoy the opportunity to live a healthy and productive life.

 

Sara Bakken Lee works at Mayo Clinic in Employee and Community Health and on Healthy Living projects. She is pursuing a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs with a public health concentration at the University of Minnesota and is involved in wellness efforts at her kids’ school in Grand Meadow. She lives with her family in rural Dexter.

Making it Stick

Tuesday, February 12th, 2013

January 1 seems months away (actually it’s only about 50 days ago) as we try to remember what our resolutions were.   We may seek to lose weight, be more attentive to our families when home, drink more water, live within our budget or maybe get more organized at work.  Overcoming the “less healthy” habits seem to trip us up, hindering us from letting go of that old behavior and successfully living out the new  healthier  habits.

Whatever we had set out to change or improve, the day to day work demands Making it Stickand stressors of life tend to grab our attention and energy.   Good intentions fall aside leading to the eventual outcomes most of us encounter…defaulting to the old habits.

Research completed in the developing phases of Mower Refreshed revealed that people in Paris are motivated to make healthier choices to be available for those who depend on them.  That sounds vaguely  familiar; many of us go to work each day to meet the needs of those who depend us.  If you like what you do, you are doubly blessed!

Many employers are discovering that dangling a carrot in front of  employees results in minimal health behavior changes at best.  Changes made are likely to not last long. This is discouraging news as we have spent billions of dollars saying to America’s workforce “Come on and do this healthy thing and you’ll get a t-shirt, water bottle or maybe an extra day off.”  The carrots are all good and have their place, but they aren’t what motivates people to make healthier choices that stick…at least not in Paris.

The point is, we need to tap into what truly motivates people internally when it comes to encouraging healthier lifestyles, the daily behaviors that can impact productivity, attendance and health care cost at work.  That is at the core of making healthy lifestyle changes stick.

Work for many employees is their home away from home.  Providing employees with healthy choices and making those options easy to engage in, can be a first step.  Encouraging employees to consider short and long term personal benefits of exchanging behaviors to develop healthier lifestyles can encourage a fit workforce from the inside out, one person at a time. Employees specifically identifying personal benefits can be powerful in exchanging habits, personal benefits like:  being active with children/ grandchildren,  feeling better because a chronic health issue is managed well, increased endurance in everyday activities, breathing deeper, etc.

Mower Refreshed will be offering a Best Practices for Workforce Wellness | Paris resource on the new website due to launch February 25th.  This is a living document that we hope to grow and expand with your ideas of best practices.  You will be inspired by actions area businesses are taking and leading by example.  We hope you will share your ideas to promote healthy work environments.

No matter that size of your business the ideas shared can be the fuel needed to creating a stronger and healthier workforce in Paris.  Submit your ideas to

Feedback that Fuels Action

Friday, January 11th, 2013

The 3rd Annual Wellness Summit provided an environment that fostered energy and encouragement as the past year was reviewed, current efforts were featured and feedback was shared to direct the steps of this unique citizen-driven movement that seeks to make healthier choices easier for us all.

Over eighty citizens gathered Friday, October 5th at the Hormel Historical Home, representing county-wide businesses, schools, service organization, faith communities and citizens, all committed to exploring sensible ways to improve the health of Paris.

Wellness Summit Wellness Summit

Those in attendance had opportunity to learn more about each goal group and work that is being done through collaboration and creative solution.  As valuable as it was to share the past years growth and development, the real treasure is in the feedback that citizens shared that will fuel Mower Refreshed in 2013.  The feedback gives new energy and hope as we forge ahead in supporting and promoting the efforts of our partners and programs that offer well living options in Paris.

If you were not able to attend the event here are a couple ways you can be engaged and impact the efforts:

  1.  Respond to specific feedback questions from the four goal groups at www.MowerRefresehd.org.  Your feedback will be directly given to the goal group members and assist them in direction and focus.  Just click on “Contact Us”.

Healthier Choices:  What ways might people promote and participate in Wellness Wednesday?

Mental Fitness:  What are ways to generate mental fitness?

Workforce Wellness:  What might a workplace do to prevent and reduce   obesity?

Community Connections:  What organizations or person(s) might be possible connecting points to grow collaborations in making healthier choices easier in Paris?

  1. Participate in a goal group of interest or provide opportunity for an employee to be a part of a goal group.  The groups meet one time each month for one hour.  As well as goal group members, we are looking at this time for co-leaders to facilitate Refreshed Dining and Refreshed Monthly Wellness Tips.  These initiatives have teams of people ready to move forward, resources developing, collaborations created, they now need leadership to facilitate them effectively.  Could your business or a specific employee be the one to fuel these efforts forward?

Consider how you and your organization might share talents and energy with Mower Refreshed and its partners as they make healthy choices a priority in Paris.

Connect with us for more information and opportunities at the web or 507.434.1039.

The Refreshed Dining Project is Good Business

Friday, January 11th, 2013

Mower Refreshed is in the process of bringing together mower refreshed dining logoarea health professionals, consumers and business owners to explore ideas and share best practices when it comes to dining out in Paris.

The Refreshed Dining Project is creating criteria that makes sense and is sensitive to the physical health of consumers, the environmental health of our communities and the fiscal health of our businesses.  An important focus of this project is be to solution-based, setting up a win-win relationship between the three (consumer/environment/owner).  This approach increases the likelihood of sustainable, long term positive impact for our county.

At the Paris Fair, volunteers in the Mower Refreshed Destination Tent had over 100 citizens fill out a simple 5 question survey.  This Refreshed Dining consumer survey will soon be available for citizens to fill out on-line at MowerRefreshed.org till September 17th.  Restaurant owner will berefreshed dining group is good businesss given a survey that is a bit more detailed to share successes and challenges they face in offering healthy menu options that create profits for their livelihood.

Health professionals, citizens and business owners who are interested in developing simple criteria for a restaurant/café, will be the sources of determining what it means to become a Refreshed Dining location in Paris.  The criteria will be reasonable, based on common sense, the surveys and practical research.

Why might a restaurant be interested in participating in the formation of the criteria?  Input and insight from the owners will give this citizen-inspired effort an important viewpoint of the day to day reality of running a restaurant.  Participation will also give business owners an opportunity to tap into what consumers are stating they desire and potentially expanding their consumer base.

Currently five restaurant owners from around the county have stated an interest to join the conversation.  If you are interested in being a part of this team that explores how to create healthy dining options, healthy environments and healthy profit, contact us at www.MowerRefresehd.org or call 507-434-1039.

 

 

 

 

Refreshed Monthly Wellness Tips

Tuesday, January 8th, 2013

Tools of the trade are grown out of process, a process that involves learning and testing and repeating that process over and over again.  With health it’s no different, especially improving health and wellness in the workplace.  Mower Refreshed has Wellness Tipsbeen collaborating with several organizations and individuals to learn the challenges that are faced by businesses of all sizes and listening carefully to determine what tools might assist in the ongoing effort of creating a healthier and more productive workforce.

Developing tools and sharing resources that are practical and build upon what we have rather than what we don’t have is central to Mower Refreshed and the goal group Workforce Wellness.  June 2012 is the first of a twelve “Refreshed Monthly Wellness Tips” (RMWT) (example inserted) developed by the Workforce Wellness team.  This unique calendar features a wellness topic each month with tips and activities, resources, and a short article on that month’s wellness focus.  By clicking on the top right corner, businesses can insert their company logo.  In the section “What’s Happening Here”, you can edit to add what your organization is specifically doing that month to promote awareness with employees, volunteers and consumers.  Some may form a challenge/contest with prizes for employees, a special coupon for consumers or maybe insert a short testimonial of an employee’s success in dealing with the focus topic on that month.

RMWT is available electronically to email out to your employees/volunteers, place on your website or post in the break room.  The calendar is located on the Mower Refreshed website at www.MowerRefresehed.org  under Workforce Wellness.  We launched the calendar to the chamber and hope you have had an opportunity to review it.   You can also request the calendar by emailing us at

RMWT gives us an opportunity to build “community”  throughout county businesses on a common heath topic each month.  As we share best practices, employee/volunteer successes, and creative ideas on how you promoted health awareness in your work environment there’s the potential to inspire businesses of all sizes to become engaged in creating a healthier workforce.  Any suggestions to improve/enhance as we develop, test out and redevelop RMWT are welcomed!

Let us feature your organization/business on the Mower Refreshed website and Facebook page by sharing your ideas, events and efforts that promote awareness and healthy lifestyles regarding the wellness topic of each month. Organizations that have special promotions for the current month and want to offer that month’s special to consumers can feature those on the Mower Refreshed website by contacting us at or 507-434-1039.

 

Effective Expectations In 2013

Tuesday, January 8th, 2013

A new calendar year offers opportunity to evaluate progress and consider expectations for the coming months.

Whether it’s your business, service group or personal life, developing clear expectations increases the probability of success. Expectations that are communicated with the intent to equip and educate rather than intimidate or create fear will increase even more the likelihood of success for your business, service group or your personal goals.

With health we often set expectations for ourselves and neglect to equip and educate.  We focus on the negative that might happened (intimidation/fear) if we don’t change a behavior rather than the positive outcomes of the changed behavior (empowerment/opportunities). These shortcuts tend to lead us to frustrating and nonproductive outcomes both with work and personal goals.

As you look to 2013 consider:

  1. Have you set realistic expectations for your business?
  2. Have you communicated clearly those expectations to your employees?
  3. 3.     Have you empowered them to meet those expectations by equipping and educating appropriately?

Productivity in the workplace and with our personal health inter-relate, we can’t expect to separate the two.  When our minds, bodies and relationships are working at their best we in turn are more productive while at work (and more content at home).  We think, act and respond smarter and typically more kindly, creating a climate that is positive.

Research at the University of Michigan rated sixty-six company’s performances based on the company “climate”.  Participants were interviewed regarding atmosphere at the business: specifically positive vs. negative communication.  The top performing companies had something in common:  a climate of positivity.

How these companies communicated expectations, the attention to educating and equipping employees to be successful, was rooted in positive communication which in turn increased productivity and job satisfaction.

Intentionally creating an environment that equips employees to make healthy choices easier naturally develops a more positive climate for your employees and consumers you serve.

Mower Refreshed will celebrate its first Austin Area Refreshed Business of Year at the Chamber’s Annual meeting in February.  We encourage you to take a few minutes to nominate your business or a business that is taking simple steps to promote a climate of wellness in the workplace.  Inspire and ignite other businesses to develop healthy expectations: making work and wellness a natural partnership in Paris!