Lesson Plan

Title of Health Intervention

Breaking Up with Stress: Exploring healthier ways of managing stress

Health Topic

Stress is a bad relationship each and everyone will at some point in encounter throughout his or her life. According to the Stress in American survey, commissioned through the American Psychological Association (2013) adults reported that they are living with increasingly high levels of stress, and are unsuccessful at managing and reducing their stress. On a scale of 1 to 10 where one is “little stress” or less and ten is the “highest level of stress”, the average stress level of an adult was a 5.1. Of the various stressors, the top three causes of stress among these adults were money, work, and the economy at 71 percent, 69 percent, and 59 percent respectively (APA).

Stress is detrimental to the health of an individual. It can cause the following (AHA, 2014).

•         High Blood Pressure (hypertension)
•         High Cholesterol (hyperlipidemia)
•         Heart Disease
•         Death

     Stress can also increase the likelihood of practicing unhealthy behaviors (AHA, 2014).

•        Smoking
•        Alcohol
•        Drug usage
•        Physical inactivity
•        Poor eating habits

Intended Audience

Employees age 18 years or older of Cigna Healthcare at the Cigna Pointe location.

Setting

The presentation will take place at CIGNA Pointe located at 1640 Plano Parkway Plano, TX 75093. The presentation will take place in the company conference room located on the 1^st floor on Tuesday at 12:00pm. The company conference room is equipped to hold up to 150 people.

Estimated Time

The estimated time for the interactive presentation will be about 45 minutes. The presentation does have the potential of being shortened, if need be. Because we are talking about stress, I don’t want employees to feel stressed about not making it back to work on time.  

Materials Needed

The materials that will be needed for this presentation will be a standard classroom setting that will seat 100 people comfortably (12 tables and 100 chairs). Other materials that will be needed are:

1. Sign-in sheet with name, phone number, and email address columns (Appendix)

2. PowerPoint Presentation (Appendix)

3. Copies of PowerPoint handout for each participant and presenter (Appendix)

4. Pens to accommodate up to 50 people

5.  Laptop computer for PowerPoint presentation with data projector

6.  White Screen or white wall

7. Table or desk for laptop and projector

8. Electrical access

9. Extension power cord

10. Handouts for pre-questionnaire (Appendix)

11. Handouts for post-questionnaire (Appendix)

12. Business cards with contact information if there are questions, or if this presentation could be useful at another date/time. (Appendix)

13. 75 bottles of water

14. 75 bags of pretzel

Guided Health Education Theory or Model

The guiding health education theory of this intervention will be the Transtheoretical Model (TTM). This model is common among behavioral change interventions such as smoking cessation, weight management programs, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and health screenings because it analyzes an individual’s readiness to change by looking at where they may fall in the behavior change scale. The five stages of this theory are precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. Individuals are able to move through the scale at their own pace (Gilbert, Sawyer, & McNeil, 2011, p. 59-60).

Goal

To help employees find healthy ways to cope with stress to improve health, relationships, and work productivity.

Outcome Objective

At the end of the presentation, at least 75% of attending employees will agree to use one of the healthy methods to cope with stress (Affective).

Participants will be able to identify three personal sources of stress according to the guidelines presented in the program (Cognitive).

Process Objective

To provide the stress presentation to a minimum of 30% of employees at Cigna Healthcare (Cigna Pointe location).

Procedures

1.     Opening Setup (5 mins)
           Distribute brochures, power-point handout, and pre/post-intervention handout to
            participants.  
   Also, place handouts/brochures on the table(s) for late participants.

2.     Pre-intervention questionnaire completion (10 min)
           a. Demographics

           b. Top 3 life stressors

           c. How they currently cope with stress, if any

3.     Introduction/Speaker Introduction (5-7 min)
           Participants briefly introduce themselves with name and interesting fact. Thank all participants  
           for coming.

4.     Introduction to the lesson

5.     Myths and Facts

6.     Lesson-PowerPoint Presentation (Handout Appendix)

a.     Goal

b.     Objectives

c.     Key health issue

d.     Facts

e.     Current life stressors

7.     Go Red for Women presents: ‘Just a Little Heart Attack’ video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?  
        v=t7wmPWTnDbE

8.     Lesson (Cont.)
            f. Healthier ways to manage stress

9.     Wrap-up

            a.     Ask if anyone has questions regarding what was presented

            b.     Thank everyone for attending the presentation

10.  Hand out post-questionnaire

            a. Participants are free to leave once questionnaire has been completed

Evaluation

Process Evaluation:

At least 30% of employee population will attend the presentation of Stress.

Evaluation Method:

Utilizing a sign-in sheet with name, phone number and email address to track the number of individuals who attended.

Impact/Outcome Evaluation:

At the end of the presentation, at least 50% of participants will agree to utilize healthier methods in managing stress.

Evaluation Method:

I will be able to evaluate this from the responses on the pre-post-intervention questionnaires.

Anticipated Problem(s) and Solution(s)

Problem: Laptop computer isn’t working.

Solution: Have a back up laptop computer.

Problem: Employees may not be able to get away from desk on time for the 12:00pm start time.

Solution: When reserving conference room, allow for at least 1.5 hours (90 minutes).

Problem: Short video from youtube isn’t properly working.

Solution: Provide URL on PowerPoint handout for participants to watch on personal time.

Problem: Bottled water that was provided was spilled on the handouts and brochures

Solution: Have available extra brochures and handouts in the event of an accident.

References

American Heart Association [AHA]. 2013. Stress and Heart Health. Retrieved
     from http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/StressManagement/How
     DoesStressAffectYou/Stress-and-Heart-Health_UCM_437370_Article.jsp

American Psychological Association [APA]. 2014. A Stress Snapshot. Retrieved
     from http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2013/snapshot.aspx

Gilbert, G.G., Sawyer, R.G., & McNeill, E.B. (2011). Health education: creating strategies
     for school and community and health (3^rd ed.). Boston, MA: Jones and Bartlett