Mayo Clinic launches healthy living program aimed to help people achieve and sustain wellness

May 1 2014

In a crowded health and wellness marketplace, knowing what's fact versus myth and effective versus ineffective can be a challenge. It also may be an obstacle for some people to find a sound and practical lifestyle program that they can maintain over time. To provide a comprehensive wellness program based on research, not the trend of the day, Mayo Clinic will launch the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program in summer of 2014 to help people adopt healthy behavioral changes in diet, exercise and stress management and improve their overall quality of life.

This new program will be located within the Mayo Clinic Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center in Rochester.

To achieve its vision, the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program is designed to help people break down barriers, dispel myths and give participants a comprehensive wellness experience tailored to their individual goals. What makes this program unique is that it doesn't end once the person leaves the campus; it offers ongoing support long after the person returns home.

"Mayo has been dedicated to the health and wellness of individuals for 150 years, and this program continues that tradition by offering life-changing experiences to people seeking whole-person wellness who want to maximize their health," says Donald Hensrud, M.D., medical director, Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program. "We're committed to partnering with each participant to design an individualized wellness plan to help them reach their wellness goals so that their success continues once they return home and are immersed back into the reality of their busy lives."

The program will offer several wellness plans, and the first of the program offerings is the Healthy Living Plan. This is a four-day experience (two full days, two half days), based on three areas of wellness: physical activity, nutrition and resiliency.

The experience begins while the individual is still at home, by assessing eating habits, activity, sleep, stress and health goals. Once the participant is on-site, the program takes a very hands-on approach with a comprehensive wellness assessment, involvement in exercise and cooking classes, participation in resiliency and stress management sessions, one-on-one wellness coaching sessions, and access to spa services. The coach partners with the individual to shape an on-site experience and continues follow-up once the participant returns home to provide tools, resources and support intended to help them achieve their goals. The Healthy Living Plan is currently taking reservations.

Dr. Hensrud and teams of experts used their clinical experience and research to design the program offerings. Health and wellness service specialists will deliver this hands-on program. The medical services of Mayo Clinic are available to assist if a medical problem occurs or is identified while the individual is participating in the program.

In addition to the program, a la carte services will be offered to patients and visitors to Mayo Clinic, as well as the public. Those include cooking classes; yoga; healthy sleep; Pilates; and spa services such as massage, acupuncture and aesthetic treatments from Mayo Clinic's Dermatology and Plastic Surgery practices.

Mayo announced this program in 2011 when longtime Mayo patient and benefactor Dan Abraham, founder of Slim-fast International, provided financial support to expand the Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center and build upon his previous gifts that established two successful employee wellness and fitness facilities at Mayo Clinic.

The Healthy Living Program is located on floors four through seven at the current center at the corner of First Street SW and Sixth Avenue SW.

Together with the new Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center and EXOS personnel, Healthy Living Program staff will be available during a public open house at the new facility on Saturday, May 3 from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.

Recognizing 150 years of serving humanity in 2014, Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit 150years.mayoclinic.org, http://www.mayoclinic.org and newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org.