Kansas Area Clergy Wellness Program

The Clergy Wellness Program is open for enrollment for 2012. The program is designed to empower United Methodist clergy in Kansas to develop and maintain healthy lifestyles that will provide a foundation for a balanced, sustainable life of ministry.

Click image to view brochure

The program begins with a two-day wellness retreat, during which participants meet with professional consultants for comprehensive wellness assessments and receive recommendations for a customized personal wellness plans.

“Great opportunity to get expert advice – thank you!“

Following the retreat, participants attend support/accountability groups via teleconference that are facilitated by a wellness coach.

There is no cost to participate in the program.

“I had already made the decision to lose weight, eat right, and do some spiritual formation. However, it affirmed those choices and perhaps will help me to maintain a healthier lifestyle.“

To learn more, please see the 2012 Clergy Wellness Program brochure, which also contains a printable application form. Apply today – enrollment is limited to 24 participants.

Each participant obtains a physical examination from his or her family doctor, completes an online Health Risk Assessment (HRA) and has blood drawn at Annual Conference.  Results from the physical, blood work, and HRA are sent to the consulting physicians for the retreat.

At the two-day retreat, clergy identify wellness areas for improvement and develop practical plans for changing any areas they chose.  During the retreat, participants meet with a consulting Physician, Nutritionist, Spiritual Counselor, Financial Advisor, Physical Therapist, and Wellness Coach to develop an individual plan for sustainable behavior changes.

F0llowing the retreat, clergy participate in group follow-up conference calls with a wellness coach.  Six months after the retreat, participants will complete a second Health Risk Assessment, with a final HRA and blood work completed at the following Annual Conference.  92% of the participants indicated that they would recommend the program to a colleague.

“I am very hopeful I can make lifestyle changes because of the opportunity of ongoing coaching and accountability group.“

Susan Harvey PT, Kansas Area Health & Wellness Committee Co-Chair, is the program coordinator.  The University of Kansas School of Medicine–Wichita Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, is conducting a formal evaluation of the program’s effectiveness by measuring changes in participants’ lab results as well as through a comparison of Health Risk Assessments.

“This was a blessing. I think this is an important program that will make a difference.“

Developed by the Kansas Area Health and Wellness Committee and funded by the Kansas Health Foundation and The United Methodist Health Ministry Fund, the program was patterned, in part, after the “Life of Leaders” program of United Methodist Health Systems in Memphis, which was attended by Bishop Scott Jones and conference leadership in 2009.

The Kansas pilot program was launched in 2010. It was offered again in 2011 to members of the cabinet and 22 clergy members across the state.

You can view additional participant testimonials at the Clergy Wellness Program Website www.clergywellness.org.  For more information about the program, please contact Susan Harvey by email at lsharvey@cox.net or by phone at 316-775-6324.  Please see the 2012 Clergy Wellness Program brochure, which also contains the application form.

The Health Risk Assessment online forms for Clergy Wellness Program participants are now available.  Please complete these online surveys via SurveyMonkey at your earliest opportunity.  Please be aware that the links are different, depending on which program class you are a member of.

For members of the 2010 class, the 1-year follow-up survey is available here:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CWP_Pilot_Follow

For members of the August 2011 group, the link is:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ClergyWellness2011

Instructions for participation are presented on each survey page linked above. If you have questions about the surveys or have trouble accessing them, please contact Kurt Konda, kkonda@kumc.edu for assistance.

Attention Clergy Wellness Program 2011 Cabinet participants
You will need to complete an online health risk assessment by June 15th. This is different from the one you complete for Virgin Health Miles. Please log onto http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CabinetWellness, enter your confidential code number (will be in instruction packet) and complete the assessment before June 15, 2011.
All information is confidential and will be identified by your code number only. All forms are to be returned to KUMC for compiling and processing.
Thank you!

Attention Clergy Wellness Program 2010 pilot participants:

The six-month follow-up Clergy Health Risk Assessment survey is now available online.  This is a lengthy assessment that will take at least 45 minutes to complete.  We thank you in advance for your patience in completing it!

To begin the survey, you will need to have your pastor code number handy.  The code can be found on the front of the red-striped envelope you received ahead of the initial HRA.  If you no longer have your code, please contact Kurt Konda at KUMC (kkonda@kumc.edu or 316-293-2627) and he can provide it. When you’re ready to begin, click the link below to leave this site and proceed to the assessment on surveymonkey.com.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ClergyHealth

The information you provide as part of this assessment will be compiled by research personnel at KUSM-W and returned to your wellness coach. The Conference will receive only aggregate information with no personally-identifiable data.

During the 2010 Clergy Wellness Program Retreat, we offered participants a chance to reflect on their experiences through the program in a video format for sharing on the program website.  Several participants, along with program administrator Susan Harvey, recorded their thoughts on the 2010 program.  Click play in the windows below to view the videos.

Rev. Gene McIntosh, Iola UMC at the 6-month follow-up:

Susan Harvey, Program Administrator:

Rev. Adam Hamilton, Church of the Resurrection UMC:

Rev. Cynthia Smart:

Rev. Kelvin Heitmann, Satanta UMC:

Rev. Mike Rose, University UMC, Salina:

Welcome to the Clergy Wellness Project support site.  We’ll keep this site up-to-date as new information becomes available.  For more information about the project, please see the “About” page.

Read a news release about the CWP on the Kansas East Conference Website

Update 2-24-10: Program Coordinator Susan Harvey reports that the pilot project is full following random clergy selection.  We’re excited by the level of interest shown; we’ve already had a number of inquiries from clergy who didn’t receive a random invitation for this pilot, wondering how they can sign up.