St. Francis Hospital | Life & Health | Fall 2018

H e a l t h 4 L i f e energizes local 4th graders together all of these and makes it fun. By making it run over eight weeks, we are hoping to create healthy habits or life- long behaviors.” The program was initiated after Tara’s experience in an Area Health Education Center (AHEC) educational offering. She was able to observe sessions from a similar program. Tara then discussed the idea with her mother, family practice physician Sally Bomar, MD, who encouraged her to contact hospital administration about implementing the program. “The idea grew from there,” says Tara. Reaching the community Both Tara and Dr. Bomar participate in program sessions. Tara provides an introduction during the first week then joins Dr. Bomar to discuss obesity prevention in week seven. Other presenters are drawn from hospital staff as well as volun- teers. All are welcome to join the fourth graders and school administration for the celebration session during the last week of the program. Each school is presented with a dona- tion to support physical education and health promotion. Since the program also encourages family involvement, the reach of the program goes beyond school walls. “We want the program to be fun and interactive,” Tara continues. “We are not preaching to them that ‘you should do this because it’s good for you,’ but are hoping that teaching them helps to educate the community.” Dr. Bomar’s passion for preventive medicine and reach- ing out to the community is now undeniably shared by her daughter. Tara realizes that involvement and education at all levels are important. “Community health definitely matters!” Tara states. The funds donated by Health 4 Life to the Eugene Field Elementary School will be used for health and physical education purposes. As SSM Health St. Francis Hospital continues to serve as a re- source for outreach education, community benefit efforts are being expanded into area elementary schools with a fourth- grade wellness program, Health 4 Life. This initiative began as a suggestion by Tara Hull, a high school senior at the time. Health 4 Life is a program specifically designed for fourth graders to help identify and practice healthy habits. The program is scheduled over an eight-week period and covers topics including smoking prevention, exercise, nutrition and nutrition labels, diabetes prevention, dental health, yoga, stress and time management, and obesity prevention. Making it fun “There wasn’t a lot of education or a forum for elementary school students that covered combined health and nutri- tion topics like in our program,” Tara says. “Health 4 Life ties 4 Life and HEALTH