Department of Public Health
Our Background
Worksite Wellness Training
Did you know that you can increase productivity, reduce absenteeism, and retain your best employees just by offering a top-quality corporate wellness program? It may even help to offset the cost of health insurance. Many corporate wellness programs are cost-prohibitive or lack a focus on changing behaviors, and coming up with your own in-house program may not be realistic.
What if you could train several key personnel to offer a cost-effective, simple wellness program that would increase morale and have a lasting, positive impact on your employees’ overall health and outlook? Or what if you had access to a professionally trained Certified Health Coach that could educate your employees to make healthier decisions? BLACK's Corporate Health & Wellness Programs offer that solution.
Ibukun Odimayo, MPH
Director of Public Health
Damilola Badmus, MPH
Associate Director
Health Workers
Peer-to-peer community outreach using Health Workers is an effective and empowering way to engage residents in ongoing conversation around good health, diabetes prevention, mental wellness and positive coping strategies to stress and trauma.
Health Workers are ambassadors in the community, offering residents information about proven “wellness techniques” related to protective factors (and community-based programs to refer their teens to); addressing issues of stigma and help-seeking; and countering the shame and negative experiences that other parents of adolescents are facing.
There are many caregivers in the U.S. who don’t know the signs or indicators of emotional or mental struggles among their teens and families. Barriers include: lack of information and self-efficacy about what parents can do at home to prevent negative coping behaviors; lack of access to needed resources; bad experiences with social services and mental health agencies (stigma, cultural incompetence); and not wanting to “air family laundry.” These parents and other caregivers are unaware of the protective factors for themselves and their teens that they can put in place immediately to prevent physical health disparities and mental health issues. These are the parents with whom Health Workers will hold interpersonal dialogues.
Health Workers will conduct peer education sessions with parents in their communities, whether they take place at parent workshops, community events, small-group discussions or one-on-one dialogues. BLACK's Health Workers will then immerse themselves in the fabric of their neighborhoods, prepared to teach parents how to give “immediate emotional support” to the youth in their lives. Health Workers will be the spark for a community-wide health & wellness knowledge transfer process.
Programs
Weekly
Teen Health Coaching
Participants will learn how to create lasting healthy lifestyles that support their journey to become vibrant and independent adults in a nurturing community. Teens will learn;
➢ How to find and implement your health goals in empowering and fun ways
➢ How to prepare healthy meal on budget away from home after graduating from high school
➢ How to improve your focus so you can achieve your goals and dreams
➢ How to manage your stress during the transitions of your life
➢ How to create a nourishing lifestyle so you feel vibrant
➢ How to get rid of toxins to optimize your body’s natural ability to heal
➢ How to create positive mindsets to thrive and overcome challenging times
Weekly
CDC National Diabetes Prevention Program
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To Register - Download and complete these forms
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Once your doctor has completed the referral form return that document to our office to complete your registration.
As part of a PreventT2 group, you will work with other participants and a trained lifestyle coach to learn the skills you need to make lasting changes. These changes include losing a modest amount of weight, being more physically active, and managing stress. Being part of a group provides support from other people who are facing similar challenges and trying to make the same changes you are. Together you can celebrate successes and find ways to overcome obstacles.
Individual & Small Group Sessions
Soul & Spa Psychotherapy
Saraa D. Lee, LCSW, is the great-granddaughter of formerly enslaved peoples, a therapist and the owner of Soul Spa Psychotherapy. She was born and raised in the neighborhood formerly known as South Central LA and was in elementary school during the L.A. uprisings. Saraa chose to study Psychology in response to her own childhood experiences, many of which were a directly result of the systemic and generational injustices imposed on Black families. Saraa earned a BA in Psychology from Pomona College of the Claremont College and an MSW from UCLA. Saraa is also a former prestigious Fulbright award winner. She has travelled to South Africa, Swaziland, Dominican Republic, South Korea and Japan where she studied and observed distinct cultural methods for sustaining wellness. Saraa has used both her professional and lived experiences to develop her own unique style of therapy, combining mindfulness, body-focused somatic soothing and liberation psychology with various psychological principles to help individuals, families and communities claim their birthright to culturally-affirming wellness. Her private practice focuses on the treatment of OCD, Burnout and Relationships in California (Lic. #84767) and Illinois (Lic. #149.021378).
