Facilitator s Guide April 2014 Facilitator Page A Good Question Leads to an Engaged Group Engaging Fresh Conversations participants is important. When they are engaged, they are more likely to consider changing behaviors to improve their health. To engage them, ask questions. Asking great questions is a skill like any other skill, it takes practice. Here are some questioning techniques to practice. 1. Don t Ask Yes or No Questions Avoid yes or no questions. Instead, ask an open-ended question. By using an open-ended question you get insights and additional information. Questions with would, should, is, are, and do you think all lead to yes or no. Questions with who, what, where, when, how, or why lead to people giving some thought to their answers and provide much more information. 2. Dig Deeper Always consider using follow-up questions. Ask a follow up question such as, What makes you say that? or Why do you think that? This gives you insight into the participant. 3. Use the Power of Silence Be comfortable asking a question, waiting for response, listening to the response and then waiting some more. People often have more information and will bring it out if you wait. You have to be comfortable with that silent period. Practice counting to 10 silently while you wait for answers. 4. Don t Interrupt Why? If you interrupt, it tells the person you don t value what they are saying. Ask the question, and then let the person answer it in full, even when you think you are not getting the answer you want. Listen fully to what they say, and use that to direct them back to the topic in the next question when Meeting Preparation Read both the monthly newsletter and guide paying close attention to the Good for your Heart Good for your Brain article. When grocery shopping, spend a few minutes in the salad dressing section to look at bottles and ingredient labels, paying close attention to bottles with olive and/or canola oil. Practice making the recipe at home. When you discuss the preparation of the samples with your nutrition education coordinator make sure to point out the samples need to be made one day ahead to allow the ingredients to mix. Select your action step and be prepared to share with the group. Check with the site manager about upcoming programs that can challenge the brain such as a book club, community conversations, etc. and encourage participation. Props Copy of April Fresh Conversations newsletter for each participant Chalk board, portable dry erase board with markers, or flip chart with markers Pencils (to write on newsletter) Copy of Macarena music & CD or tape player (optional) Printed copy of monounsaturated fat salad dressing label (attached to guide) Small sample of No Cook Berry Oatmeal tasting for each participant. Baseball
there is a natural pause. If you must interrupt, be polite to the person. Say something like, Excuse me, I want to make sure I understand you. What I heard you say is and then bring them back to your point. Asking great questions takes practice. You probably won t get it perfect every time. Just get started asking questions. Your skills will improve over time. Remember,if you want good answers, ask good questions. Facilitators Need to Know Key messages for this month include: Behaviors that are good for the heart are equally good for the brain. Monounsaturated fats like olive and canola improve the absorption of nutrients from vegetables. Physical activity can benefit memory.! The suggested wording for the presentation is in regular font and the facilitator directions are in dark red italic. It is best not to read the presentation, but to use your own words staying close to the meaning. Presentation Last Month Follow Up Last month we discussed vitamin D. I am curious. What did you discover about vitamin D at the grocery store? Wait for reactions. Where were the vitamin-d rich mushrooms? Wait for responses. Each of you created an action step. Who would like to share your experience? Let one or two people share. If no response, use your notes of previously set action steps to encourage a few people to begin sharing. What problems did you encounter meeting your action step? Perhaps our group can help think of ways to meet your goal. Encourage one to two participants to share and let group give suggestions on how to meet the action step. If no one had trouble with action steps, continue with this month s presentation. Introduction Who is concerned about heart disease? What are some ways to reduce the risk or manage heart disease? Let s make a list of ways to control the risk of heart disease. Ask for a volunteer to record the suggestions on a chalk board or newsprint. This will allow you to give attention to the discussion. If any possible answers are not mentioned, add to the list after every one finishes. (Possible answers: be physically active or exercise, acheive or maintain a healthy weight, control blood pressure, manage diabetes, limit and select good fat, limit food containing cholesterol, control stress, don't smoke) Let s look at the first page of the newsletter and read the headline, Good for Your Heart, Good for Your Brain. Any time you are caring for your heart health you are also caring for your brain! WOW! That is a bargain; like a two-for-one sale at the grocery store. Today, let s focus on two ways to keep our hearts and brains healthy: being physically active and eating more good fats. Physical Activity (5-10 minutes) On the corner of one of the pages of your newsletter, please write down a reason or barrier that stops you or others from being physically active. Do not share your ideas with each other, we will do that later. Wait 1-2 minutes for people to write down their answers. Ask one person at a time to share their reasons for not being physically active. Using the chalk board or a new piece of paper on flip chart, record their ideas. With each suggestion, ask how many people thought of that idea too, Record the number next to the barrier. (Sample barriers: weather, safety, sidewalks & roads, poor balance, animal threats, too tired, too busy). Choose the top two barriers to discuss how to eliminate or control. There are no right answers. Any ideas that help remove the barrier are good answers. Remember that activity is good for your heart and your brain. Remind the group that these remedies to barriers could be turned into an action step. 2
Examples Too tired: Consider the time of day that you have the most energy. For some people it is first thing in the morning; for others it may be later in the day. Or Poor balance: use a cane to steady your walk and carry a cell phone if you get in trouble. Nutrition Discussion (5 minutes) Having a salad with your meal is a simple way to add more vegetables to your diet. Now, what do you choose for your salad dressing? Did you know what you choose can be good for your memory? The article in the newsletter on page two suggests that choosing salad dressing made with a monounsaturated fat like olive or canola oil can help your memory. While you may have thought that choosing a fat-free dressing was the best idea, this article suggests that you rethink that decision. How do you know what kind of fat is in the dressing? The ingredient list on the back of the bottle will reveal the type of fat the dressing contains. Look for olive or canola oil for the most monounsaturated fat. The small poster illustrates the list of ingredients in one salad dressing. Hand to one or two participants. Which oils do you see in the list? (olive & canola) That is just what we were looking for. Where do you usually find the ingredient label on a bottle of dressing? (Back of bottle) Just make sure to have your glasses with you! Tell Me More Monounsaturated fats are usually liquid at room temperature, but can turn solid in the refrigerator. Recipe Demonstration No Cook Berry Oatmeal (5 minutes) The recipe may be found on page three of the newsletter. The recipe needs to be prepared the night before the presentation to allow the ingredients to blend together. Remember to refrigerate the recipe. Both blueberries and strawberries are beneficial for our memory. This is true of both fresh and frozen. See page three in the newsletter for more details. It is best to use frozen berries to add more liquid and juice to the mix. If you want a more tart taste substitute plain yogurt for vanilla yogurt. The dry oatmeal has a very nutty flavor in this mixture. Do you have an early morning appointment? Use this recipe to have your breakfast ready to go. Try this as an easy, filling afternoon snack. Either old fashioned or quick cooking oats work well here, but you cannot use steel cut oatmeal in this recipe. Evidence suggests they may lower our risk of heart disease and stroke. Olive and canola oil are common sources of monounsaturated fats. 3
Optional Activity Are your participants willing to be active at the meeting? If so, they may be up for a little dancing. Why not try the 1990 s Macarena dance? The written directions are at the end of the guide. All you have to do is find the music and do a little practicing. A free copy of the music can be downloaded at: http://www.4shared.com/mp3/fbcs8nih/la_macarena original_version_.htm Why dance? The act of dancing is physical activity coupled with a challenge for the brain. Both are good for a healthy brain. Line dancing or square dancing can also be fun and healthy. Your Action Step (5 minutes) What did you learn new today about how to keep your brain healthy? Wait for responses. This could be your action step for the month. Does anyone need help in thinking of an action step? Refer to the sample actions. Write down your personal action step in the Take Action Corner. You will find this on page two of the newsletter. Note to facilitators: Please refer back to March guide for description of a good action step. I encourage you to continue to practice your selected action step all month. To help you make a realistic action step, ask yourself: How confident am I that I will do this action step on a scale of 1-10, with 1 having no confidence and 10 being very confident? If you rated your confidence as a 7 or below, you may want to think of another action step or modify the action step so that you feel more confident in accomplishing that action step. Sample Actions for Participants While shopping, I will find a dressing made from olive or canola oil. How far can I walk in 10 minutes? I will take a 5 minute walk away from my house to determine a walking path for myself. I will purchase frozen blueberries and add half a cup to my cereal three mornings next week. I will make sure to wear my glasses and turn on the lights when I cook in my kitchen this next week. Meeting Summary (5 minutes) Your brain and your heart benefit from the same healthy behaviors. I hope each of you have an action step in mind that you will try this month. Have fun with it! Let s share our action steps with each other. We will pass a baseball from person to person and share our action step. Share how confident you are in accomplishing your action, using a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 having little confidence and 10 being very confident. If a participant is less than a 7 for confidence, ask question to help them improve their confidence. After you share, pass the ball to the next person. IF you do not want to share, you can pass. Hand a ball to the next person. After everyone has shared, end the meeting with a word of encouragement and remind them you are looking forward to your next meeting. Meeting Follow Up After the meeting is over, write down some of the action steps mentioned by participants. When you return next month you can use the action steps to review what was discussed and check in with the participants on their experience. 4
Newsletter Order Form April 2014 Please read the newsletter and leader s guide to answer the following questions. Then submit your order by e-mail or fax. 1. Name two oils that provide monounsaturated fat. & 2. What is good for your is good for your. 3. How can you make sure you use the Power of Silence when asking a Fresh Conversations question? Order Your Materials (provided to Iowa Nutrition Network Partners Only) Contact Name Congregate Meal Site (Please list all the sites for which you are ordering the newsletter. Address City State ZIP Phone Number Number of Fresh Conversations Participants Return to: Marilyn Jones, IDPH, Lucas Building, 4th Floor 321 E. 12th Street, Des Moines, IA 50319 or by FAX 515-281-4913. Answers For questions, call Marilyn at 515-281-6047 Email: marilyn.jones@idph.iowa.gov 1. Olive & Canola 2. Heart & Brain 3. Count to 10 silently 5
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Macarena Dance Instructions Modifications: People unable to stand can sit and do the Macarena. For safety make sure everyone is at least two arm lengths apart. Beat 01: R arm straight out, in front of you, palm down Beat 02: L arm straight out, in front of you, palm down Beat 03: R arm straight out, in front of you, palm up Beat 04: L arm straight out, in front of you, palm up Beat 05: R hand grasps inside of the L arm, at the elbow Beat 06: L hand grasps inside of the R arm, at the elbow Beat 07: R hand behind R back of neck Beat 08: L hand behind L back of neck Beat 09: R hand on L - front pants pocket Beat 10: L hand on R - front pants pocket Beat 11: R hand on R - back pants pocket Beat 12: L hand on L - back pants pocket Beat 13: Move your hips to the left Beat 14: Move your hips to the right Beat 15: Move your hips to the left Beat 16: Clap and turn 90 degrees to the right! OR repeat steps without turning Citation: http://www.geocities.com/nashville/stage/2190/macarena.htm 7