Whole Health Education

Whole Health Educator''s Motto:

When we
listen respectfully,
are fully present,
act justly and compassionately,
understand that we do not heal others,
invite rather than direct, and
recognize that each person possesses innate wisdom
we create healing and transformational relationships.

Whole Health Education is a holistic and whole person understanding of the cause and effect of health and disease from the five aspects of health: physical, emotional, nutritional, environmental and spiritual.™ It is based on the principle that healing will occur naturally in the human body if it is given what it truly needs in the physical, emotional, nutritional, environmental and the spiritual ways. Each person is unique and therefore is met with a personal-tailored plan to provide the necessary educational information that is evidenced based and scientifically proven for his or her own health and wellness concerns.

Want to see if your insurance will cover Whole Health Education sessions with Andi? Click here for the list of participating insurance companies. If your company is listed, you must call them to see if your individual plan will cover it and whether or not you need your doctor's referral. If you need your doctor's referral, contact Andi for information you can give to your healthcare provider.

Method of Application

The Whole Health Educator module is grounded through a peer counseling context which establishes equity based relationships between the client and educator. The objective is to invite the client into the process of self-healing and self-management as it pertains to a specific health condition. The client reflects on current lifestyle and environment choices to see how they may be actively playing a role in regards to overall health and well-being. The whole health educator encourages the client to identify these needs and to make changes that are appropriate and compatible to their own value system.

This whole health education is usually delivered in two phases. The initial phase of the intervention consists of six (6) 45-50 minute sessions of one-on-one information counseling. Each of these 6 sessions is structured with specific task descriptions and educational goals. The second phase is the preventative or maintenance phase, which runs concurrent with usual health care follow-up care. These follow-up visits serve to identify how the client's strategies are working and possible changes of new approaches which may result in further outcomes.

This model of health education and health information is identified as Whole Health Education® because it addresses the whole of the sum of the parts affecting an individual's health and their present healing issues.

*Sessions can be held in person, telephone, and/or Skype (or any combination).

SESSION ONE: An opportunity for the intern and client to meet and develop rapport, as equal partners to share the necessary information about behavior and lifestyle that will help to identify the cause and effect of the health concern. By respectfully listening, the educator is able to gather information to research each aspect of the health concerns and give the client tailored results for individual discernment. This is a very important concept of the whole health educator module. The right to decide a personal prescription for wellness. *The whole health interview form is extensive, for the purpose of gathering as much information as possible. It is different from a standard medical intake form in that the questions are designed to assist the client with identifying the many factors that may have a direct impact on their illness or condition.

SESSION TWO: After identifying with the client's health information needs and interests, the educator presents easily understood charts and information presentations that demystify the language and cause and effect of the person's health concerns. The areas of explanation provide a foundation of information for the client, on the physical, mental, chemical, environmental and spiritual aspects of how the human body functions and how these functions affect their health.

SESSION THREE: During this session the client can understand how aspects of their lifestyle may impact their own state of health. This review will also help the client further understand the cause and effect response in the condition they are presently experiencing. This allows the person to consider possible solutions to correct the cause and effect factors of their lifestyle. This session can also incorporate client's goals and strategies for health self-management.

SESSION FOUR: The educator further synthesizes for the client how their body, mind and environment work together; their physical, nutritional, emotional, environmental and spiritual aspects and how personality and behavior influence disease. Through reading and understanding the information that is presented the client will better understand how these five aspects can individually and collectively affect their state of health or disease. Clients are encouraged to identify specific aspects of their condition that they may wish to receive more information about. Goals are listed and possible solutions or strategies are discussed.

SESSION FIVE: The educator and client discuss each of the possible solutions or strategies from various perspectives, through the following questions to the client: Has the client discussed their ideas and strategies with their physician or nurse practitioner? Has the client thought about strategies from a practical perspective- do they have the time and the structure to make this work? Are there financial considerations? Would the strategy overlap with other needs and cause anxiety or stress? Do they feel they can commit long term? Is it the right time to begin the strategy or would they be best served to wait and identify a time that would be more conducive? Should they start with one small change and build on that? This encourages the client to discern realistic possibilities that will lead to a greater long-term compliance with resulting achievement of their desired goals.

SESSION SIX: The last of the initial 6 visits. The educator helps the client solidify how they will begin to participate in their health recovery and/or maintenance. After identifying possible changes the client would like to initiate, the educator writes down the plan and the desired outcomes. A copy of this list is made for the client. When the client returns for their first follow-up visit (which is usually concurrent with usual medical care) this strategy/goal list assists the client in evaluating how well their program has been working.