Davidson County Department of Senior Services, in partnership with Novant Health, has relaunched the Passport to Better Health program, introduced last year with noteworthy success.
The program, in which more than 50 participated in 2015, offers senior 55 and older the opportunity to learn how physical activity, food choices, lifestyle habits and maintaining positive mental health influences several chronic diseases.
In the same way as official passports get stamped when you travel abroad, the Passport to Better Health is also stamped when attending wellness classes, engaging in healthy activity or making positive lifestyle changes.
Novant Health offers a variety of health and wellness programs at both the Lexington and Thomasville Senior Centers throughout the year. The senior centers offer ongoing exercise classes, a fitness room, walking programs and classes to assist program participants on their healthy lifestyle journey.
The Passport to Better Health program provides incentives along the way. As participants earn points and stamps, they receive prizes such as fruit baskets, cookbooks, digital kitchen scales, healthy cooking classes and even massages.
Davidson County Senior Services introduced the Passport program in January of 2015. During the first year, approximately 60 seniors participated. Two participants, Jackie Taylor and Larry Long, reached the highest level of the program, Wellness Champion, accumulating over 60 stamps throughout the year.
Both participants were rewarded with a FitBit for their achievement. In December, during a luncheon in honor of all program participants, Larry Long was rewarded with the grand prize package including a FitSit cycle, Magic Bullet blender and a digital body fat scale for accumulating the most stamps.
Following a heart attack, Larry received an implantable cardioverter defibrillator in 2004. As a result, he made some major lifestyle changes through diet and exercise.
“The problems with my heart scared me. Now I walk all the time, at least one hour every day. It used to be a chore, but now it’s become a habit,” he says. He is continuing with the Passport program in 2016, and serving as a role model to others at the senior center.
For more information on the Passport to Better Health program, please call 336.242.2290 or email Stefanie.Poore@DavidsonCountyNC.Gov in Lexington or call 336.474.2754 or email Vickie.Weaver@DavidsonCountyNC.Gov in Thomasville.