Area residents who want to learn more about improving their health and get some exercise at the same time have a new way to do just that thanks to Walk With a Doc, which meets at 11 a.m. Fridays through Aug. 22 at the Jones Memorial Community Center, 220 E. 15th St. in Chicago Heights.<\/p>\n
The national program, which began in Ohio in 2005, features a short presentation by a health care provider followed by stretching and a walk.<\/p>\n
Justin Davis, Franciscan Health community health improvement coordinator, has lined up speakers for the free program such as a diabetes specialist, a health screening coordinator and someone who will address issues related to mental health.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to have someone give a presentation for about 15 minutes, and then afterward I\u2019ll lead the walk,\u201d he said. \u201cThe walk may not be an hour \u2013\u00a0it might only be 30 minutes \u2013 because I don\u2019t know if everybody can walk far distances. \u2026 We have a part I\u2019ve mapped out for everybody on how the walk will go once we get there.\u201d<\/p>\n
If weather allows, the walk will take place on the sidewalk by the community center. \u201cIf not, we can use a gymnasium or other rooms where we can walk,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Those who join the walk should plan to wear comfortable clothing such as shorts, T-shirts or sweats. \u201cWe don\u2019t want you wearing anything professional,\u201d Davis joked.<\/p>\n
Attendees will be sitting during the presentation. \u201cYou\u2019ll not be standing the majority of the time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The center offers plenty of parking. \u201cThe place is big and it\u2019s been around over 100 years,\u201d Davis shared, adding that he\u2019ll be near the front entrance with the center\u2019s manager so people will know where to go.<\/p>\n
Davis is enthusiastic about Walk With a Doc, which Franciscan Health in Lake County, Indiana, formally joined back in 2017. \u201cThis program happens (already) in Indiana. It\u2019s my first time. I\u2019m excited to see how it goes and I\u2019ll learn with everyone else,\u201d he said. \u201cWe wanted to try it here, wanted to expand.\u201d<\/p>\n
The community\u2019s response thus far has been lighter than Davis hoped. Ten people attended the first presentation July 18 by dietitian Tara Allen, a diabetes specialist, but only one person joined the walk that day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say the walk did not meet my expectations. I thought more people would be present,\u201d he said. The second event also was lightly attended.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of my main goals is seeing the community turn out for the event. I also want them to learn something and engage with the physician and whoever the presenter may be,\u201d Davis shared. \u201cI want them to take something home, invite their families and friends, so it goes farther than just this.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that he\u2019ll know it\u2019s starting to succeed because the number of participants will increase even as others continue to attend.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want it to be the same people showing up. If it\u2019s new people showing up, I\u2019m cool with that, but if it\u2019s different people every week, I don\u2019t want that,\u201d Davis explained. \u201cThat means they don\u2019t see the need for this program. So if it\u2019s new people coming, they probably heard about it, but if it\u2019s only one person, I won\u2019t think that\u2019s very successful.\u201d<\/p>\n
He expects some people may come for the presentation while others will be interested in the walk. \u201cI think it will be more social because people know each other and they\u2019ll get to talking. Maybe they haven\u2019t seen each other for a while, so it will be like a social thing too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adding the Walk With a Doc program to the community center was a natural fit, said Juana Morales, its interim executive director.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe community center has been networking with Franciscan systems for many years. They do workshops like today we have Healthy Choices with the children, and they sponsor a meal, lunch with Chick-fil-A for 120 people,\u201d she said. \u201cThey sponsor back to school festival book bags. They do many things for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
In November, the center hosted Healthy Choices, Healthy Cooking, \u201cand that was Justin,\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019s a sweet person and a nice person who is trying to help the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morales believes exercise is important at every age.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of times we don\u2019t take the initiative, and then when we\u2019re trying to do it, the old people, it\u2019s too late. We\u2019re sick and cannot even walk. It\u2019s a good thing to get into young people. We had a young kid who came with his mother,\u201d she said. \u201cA lot of our young children are beginning to get sick with diabetes, obesity, and part of that is our fault too. But if we start (exercising) earlier, then we can prevent a lot of illnesses or diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n
She plans to participate in the program when she can. \u201cI am over 60, and it\u2019s good for us to walk too,\u201d she shared, adding that long periods of sitting can make it hard to get up and lead to stiff joints. \u201cSo walking, mobility, is what keeps us alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morales hopes Walk With a Doc will help the community. \u201cThere are a lot of seniors, more seniors than used to be (around) when we were growing up. At 40, you were an old person back then. Nowadays, we need to keep walking to keep working,\u201d she said. \u201cWe need to stay in good health. I\u2019m walking as much as I can so I can be healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also wants to help build up the program. \u201cWhat I want from our community is to get engaged. It\u2019s hard to get to the community, to get them out and to start something,\u201d she said. \u201cI invited 10 people and two came. \u2026 It\u2019s hard to build regulars.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite low turnout thus far, Morales is determined to make this work. \u201cWe don\u2019t give up \u2013 I never give up.\u201d<\/p>\n
On-site registration starts at 10:45 a.m. the day of the program. For information, email Davis at\u00a0Justin.Davis@FranciscanAlliance.org.<\/p>\n
Melinda Moore is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Area residents who want to learn more about improving their health and get some exercise at the same…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":109992,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[14672,14676,960,14677,5404,14679,14720,1198,8413,210,5386,1818,728,14696,50,11210,14704,14706,14707,1072,14716],"class_list":{"0":"post-109991","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-blue-island","9":"tag-calumet-city","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-heights","12":"tag-cook-county","13":"tag-country-club-hills","14":"tag-daily-southtown","15":"tag-fitness","16":"tag-harvey","17":"tag-health","18":"tag-il","19":"tag-illinois","20":"tag-local-news","21":"tag-markham","22":"tag-news","23":"tag-oak-lawn","24":"tag-orland-park","25":"tag-palos-heights","26":"tag-palos-hills","27":"tag-things-to-do","28":"tag-tinley-park"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}