A weekly livestream focusing on wellness opportunities through the Area Agency on Aging District 7 (AAA7) debuted on Wednesday, Jan. 6 on the AAA7 Facebook page. Wellness Wednesdays will be featured each week at 10 a.m. with a new wellness topic for discussion during the broadcast.

As routines have changed through the pandemic, so too have the wellness programs offered through the AAA7. The agency offers a number of valuable and helpful programs designed to help individuals with their chronic conditions and other health concerns. Prior to the pandemic, the AAA7 held these classes in person, but has moved them now to telephone classes.

Through Wellness Wednesdays the agency is able to expand the reach to share information about the valuable programs available to help with chronic disease self-management, diabetes self-management and chronic pain self-management. The goal is to increase knowledge about these programs and help more and more people learn to live with their chronic conditions and/or embrace helpful tips that can help individuals live healthier.

During the episode on Jan. 6, Hannah Hollingshead of the AAA7’s Wellness Department and facilitator of wellness programs through the agency, discussed the programs that are offered and the benefits associated with them. She also explained that the courses are evidence-based, which means that they have been tested in controlled settings and have been proven to be effective.

Classes are available for those age 60 and over who live in one of the 10 core counties located in the AAA7’s district which includes Adams, Brown, Gallia, Highland, Jackson, Lawrence, Pike, Ross, Scioto and Vinton. There is no cost associated with participating. Currently through the telephone, classes meet once a week for one hour for six total weeks.

The agency will soon begin a Chronic Pain Self-Management class that registration is closed for, but a Diabetes Self-Management class will start on Jan. 26 with registration still open. If interested, you can call 1-800-582-7277, ext. 247 and ask for Hannah, or email [email protected].

The next Wellness Wednesday livestream will be Jan. 13 at 10 a.m. featuring more details and information about the Chronic Pain Self-Management Program.

If you missed the episode on Jan. 6, you can see a recorded version on the AAA7’s Facebook page or on the AAA7’s website at www.aaa7.org.

Submitted by Jenni Lewis, community outreach, AAA7.