Healthy Congregations Covenant Program

All Kansas United Methodist congregations are invited to participate in the Covenant training courses. Core courses are required for certification under the Level 2 Covenant program. Elective courses are also available to provide continuing education opportunities. Pre-registration is required for all sessions. Seating is limited, so please register early! Even if your church isn't currently in the Covenant program, you may begin training now in preparation for future participation. All courses are offered free of charge.

Each session originates at the KU School of Medicine in Wichita, and is linked via live video to regional sites where trained personnel coordinate the sessions and facilitate local participation. If your plans change please notify Judy Johnston (contact information listed in registration confirmation) so that someone else may attend.

Registering for Covenant training courses (pre-registration required)

To register, you'll need a personal Healthy Congregations account to ensure you and your church receive course credit. If you submitted a Healthy Congregations Covenant Report or Plan online this year, you already have an account. Or, your Team Coordinator may have already created an account placeholder for you. When you click a link to register, you'll be taken to a login screen where you may log in or create an account.

Scheduled training sessions [see descriptions]

Below is the list of scheduled training dates and available courses. If you see a training date that fits your schedule, register online to reserve your place. Not sure which courses you need? The registration page will indicate core courses you've either completed or enrolled in. Log in to find out.

Date	Start Time	Title	Type
2010-08-07	8:30 am	Volunteer Recruitment & Retention	core
2010-08-07	10:30 am	Health Ministry Communication & Marketing	core
2010-08-07	12:30 pm	Group Facilitation Techniques	core
2010-08-07	2:30 pm	Operationalizing Evaluation: Tool Development and Hands-on Practice	elective
2010-09-11	8:00 am	Health Ministry 101	core
2010-09-11	11:00 am	Outcomes-Based Planning	core
2010-09-11	1:00 pm	Community Assessment: Environmental Health Issues	elective
2010-09-11	3:00 pm	Soulful Suppers: Keep It Simple	elective
2010-10-16	8:30 am	Consumer Fraud Prevention	elective
2010-10-16	10:30 am	Risk Behaviors and Chronic Disease: Resources to Address Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Tobacco	elective
2010-10-16	12:30 pm	Volunteer Recruitment & Retention	core
2010-10-16	2:30 pm	Program Options & How to Plan Program Events	core

Available training locations

Below is a list of the locations where training is currently scheduled. Click the name of a location to select that location and jump to the registration page.

Name	City	Address
University of Kansas School of Medicine - Wichita	Wichita	Sunflower Room, 1010 N. Kansas Ave.
Trinity UMC Salina	Salina	901 East Neal Avenue
SE KU Area Health Education Center	Pittsburg	1501 S. Joplin, 4th Floor, Shirk Hall, Pittsburg State University
NW KU Area Health Education Center	Hays	Hadley Center, 205 East 7th, Suite 130
SW KU Area Health Education Center	Garden City	302 N. Fleming, #4
Baker University	Baldwin City	Mabee Memorial Hall Room 400, 618 Eighth Street

Note: You will need to provide your own food and beverages at the training sessions. Please plan to either bring brown-bag lunches and drinks for your team, or skip one class and go out for lunch during that time slot. A refrigerator and microwave oven are available for participant use at each site.

Detailed course descriptions

Course Title	Core/Elective
Health Ministry 101	core
This class includes: orientation to the Healthy Congregations Covenant initiative; discussion of why intentional comprehensive health ministry and why in the UMC; discussion of key pieces of comprehensive health ministry; discussion of how to use the Socio-Ecological Model for health initiatives; and starting to plan health ministry using the Congregational Self-assessment tool.
Volunteer Recruitment & Retention	core
This class includes: defining health ministry and identifying who is the Health Ministry team and what they do; examining Leadership; discussion of the differences between a team and a group; strategies for identifying team members; experience with Learning Styles and how that information is useful in identifying team members; strategies for recruiting and keeping volunteers; and how to achieve team success in health ministry.
Outcomes-Based Planning	core
This class includes: discussion of comprehensive approaches to health ministry; discussion of the four dimensions of health; examples of how the Socio-Ecological Model can be used in planning; hands-on experience in defining goals, identifying target audiences and desires outcomes; thinking about strategies, and developing an action plan and identifying resources.
Group Facilitation Techniques	core
This class includes: techniques for convening groups and effectively managing productive meetings; techniques for facilitating from the chair; group techniques for planning and consensus building; and activities for leadership development in committee members.
Program Options & How to Plan Program Events	core
This class offers strategies for program/initiative management and also includes: discussion of the differences between initiatives and programs and how to develop initiatives for greater impact; keys to event planning that lead to success; how to collect and use event feedback from both participants and volunteers; and hands-on use of an event planning form.
Health Ministry Communication & Marketing	core
This class includes: discussion of types of health communication; hands-on planning activities for identifying target audiences and where they can be found; development and testing of logos and catch phrases; the importance of consistent messages; marketing dos and don'ts; and exploring viable marketing options in your community.
Program Evaluation & Using Data	core
This class includes: needs assessment--what it is and why use it; program development using SMART objectives; program evaluation as part of program implementation; survey development, data entry and simple analysis; components of evaluation; evaluation templates; and dissemination of data.
Developing Walking Programs	elective
This class includes: discussion of the benefits of walking; calculating stride; walking demonstration; discussion of barriers to walking and responses to those barriers; safety while walking; what to wear while walking; pedometers and other tools; designing your own walking program; and existing programs you can use.
Stepping Up Your Walking Program	elective
This class includes: group discussion and sharing of programs that have worked in their congregations; introduction to Walk & Talk and other faith-based walking programs; and group problem solving.
Healthy Church Meals	elective
This class includes: "My Pyramid: Critical Areas to Consider in Menu Planning"; translating recommendations into menus; modifying and/or choosing new recipes; keeping foods safe to serve; and ideas for sharing this information in the congregation.
Emergency Preparedness at Home	elective
This course is an overview of emergency preparedness including what is considered an emergency, why is it important, how to plan and prepare for an emergency at home, work or when driving in a vehicle, and other ways that you can help your community during an emergency. Participants will prepare checklists to assist in personal, family, and congregation emergency preparedness.
Flu Outbreak Planning for Faith Communities	elective
This course is an overview of pandemic influenza including the history of, symptoms, treatment, prevention, and planning. Participants will prepare checklists to assist in personal, family, and congregation pandemic influenza preparedness. The class includes: definitions; discussion of issues for faith communities; creating and implementing a plan in your congregation; discussion of the responsibilities of faith communities to inform and educate regarding flu outbreaks; prevention strategies; crisis management; hand-washing techniques and resources; and the Faith-Based & Community Organizations Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Checklist.
Food Safety and Hand Washing	elective
This class includes: discussion of food-borne pathogens; descriptions of national food safety programs; educational resources and food safety games for all ages; practical food safety tips for all types of food; and hand-washing campaign resources.
Social and Spiritual Determinants of Health	elective
This class includes: discussion of the connection between faith, personal health, and social responsibility; provides training for individuals to become leaders in their congregations for the "Health Through Faith and Community" study curriculum.
Positive Parenting	elective
This class includes: topics and techniques from the popular and widely acclaimed book "Redirecting Children's Behavior" by Kathyrn J. Kvols, and other parenting resources.
Healthy Food for Family, Freezer and Ministry	elective
This class includes: planning healthy family meals; stocking up on healthy foods; strategies for becoming a role model; how to avoid battles with kids over food; getting kids involved in meal planning and preparation; and quick and healthy meal ideas for busy families on a budget.
Operationalizing Evaluation: Tool Development and Hands-on Practice	elective
The core course Program Evaluation & Using Data gives participants an understanding of why program evaluation is critical, how to do some simple data analysis when conducting evaluation, and some ideas of how to use the data. Many of you requested additional help in designing your program evaluation, including how to write evaluation questions, how to structure evaluation instruments, how to choose evaluation methods, and other very practical information you need to operationalize your program evaluation. Dr. Elizabeth Ablah has designed this follow-up class to assist you as she answers your evaluation questions and provides hands-on experience in developing evaluation plans.
Community Assessment: Environmental Health Issues	elective
How do you decide what programs or support groups to offer as part of your health ministry? How do you know what people need and want? How do you know what stage of change people are in so that you choose the right format for the programs you offer? When you are ready to move forward, but you aren't exactly sure how to turn your vision into strategies that make the best use of existing resources and offer the best response to local conditions, you need more information to guide your efforts. You can get this through a community assessment. Dr. Elizabeth Ablah will teach several methods of conducting community assessments and then offer as an example the Wichita Initiative to Renew the Environment (WIRE) project. She will share the results of extensive community assessment around environmental issues, including built environment to support nutrition and physical activity.
Soulful Suppers: Keep It Simple	elective
Pat Cox has a reputation among families and friends as a great cook who knows how to make food taste and look delicious while keeping the work load to a minimum. She brings a long background in hospital food service where her nutrition training and experience added to her understanding of simple, tasty cooking. She will share what she has learned with the community through recipe ideas that take traditional foods and make them simple to prepare and healthier to eat while keeping all the great flavors. You may have met Pat when she did cooking demos at the 2010 Healthy Congregations Retreat in May. She has prepared a training kit of 6 cooking demonstrations and tastings for participants to use in their congregations. Registration for this class will close 1 week prior to the class date to allow for shipping of the training kits to the training sites. Only those who pre-register prior to the deadline and who attend the training will receive the kit containing a video and the recipes.
Consumer Fraud Prevention	elective
This course offers information your congregants need to protect themselves from consumer fraud on a variety of levels. Learn the data about this important issue and also learn specific things you can do to protect yourself regardless of age.
Risk Behaviors and Chronic Disease: Resources to Address Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Tobacco	elective
Dr. Elizabeth Ablah will discuss the three most common risk factors for heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke, and several other chronic diseases - poor diet, physical inactivity, and tobacco use. She will make the case for focusing on the risk behaviors rather than diseases so that your health ministry has activities and programs that address a wider segment of your congregation. She will share evidence-based programs that you can consider adopting to address these risk behaviors and show you how to access them.