1. Interdisciplinary, Community-Based, Health Education for Diverse Elders HRSA Grant #1 D37 HP 00838-01 Prof. Ellen Greer, MA, OTR/L, CPsyA Prof. Luis F. Riquelme, MS,CCC-SLP Prof. Ellen Godwin, MS, PT Prof. Rebecca States, PhD Assoc. Dean William Susman, PhD, PT

2. Strategies For Change Twelve Principles for Well Being

3. Feel Your Feelings Emotions are important signals. There is nothing to fear about feelings. A good cry, a healthy argument, asserting our rights, examining hidden feelings – All can make you feel better. Make sure you have the support and understanding that you need.

4. Nothing Comes Out of the Blue When you feel your mood change, there is always a reason. Something has happened. Our basic assumptions and life may be colored by sad feelings. Do we expect bad events to be permanent, to affect everything, to be our fault? Do we think good things are temporary, limited, the result of chance, not caused by something we have done? These ways of thinking are only bad habits.

5. Three Responses When we understand what is causing us distress, remember, there are only three responses: alter, accept, avoid. Try to change the situation. Try to avoid the situation in the future. If you can’t do either, work on accepting it.

6. Challenge Depressed Thinking Identify your thinking habits. Learn to ask yourself questions about your thinking. Learn a new habit: Challenge every assumption you make.

7. Establish Priorities The more you spend time doing things that help you get what you want from life, the happier you will feel every day. You can’t do everything.You have to make choices. Identify what is really important to you. List the things that you feel make living worthwhile. Rank them in order of importance. Spend some time each day in an activity that moves you closer to the things you want to do.

8. Communicate Directly If we don’t tell people what we want, we can’t expect to get it. If we don’t tell people how we feel, we can’t expect them to understand us. We have to learn to speak in clear language. We have to learn to match what we say with how we say it. We have to be responsible for listening carefully to what others say to us. If we don’t understand, we have to ask for clarification.

9. Take Care Of Yourself We need to learn to enjoy ourselves. Learn to relax. Take a course in something you are interested in learning. Take care of your body. Eat healthy and delicious meals. Pay attention to small pleasures. Practice activities that are a mild challenge, that occupy our minds and body, that require a high degree of concentration, that have clear rules and feedback.

10. Take and Accept Responsibility Be responsible for making yourself happy. We’re allowed to be selfish, to put ourselves first at times. We must expect others to be responsible. If we are hurt by another person’s behavior, we need to let them know how they have hurt us. We should be forgiving and be prepared to take action if the hurt is repeated.

11. Look for Heroes Find people to admire. Strive to be like them. If there are people like this in your community, perhaps you can help them in their work.

12. Be Generous Cultivate a generosity of spirit. Make a gift of your love, attention, time and respect, or whatever is needed to someone who is close to you or in need. Feel what it’s like to reach out and care.

13. Cultivate Intimacy Intimacy means opening up to another person and letting the other see the real you. Letting your loved ones know about your secret fears and doubts can help you grow.

14. Practice Detachment When we are in a stressful situation ask yourself two things: How much does this really matter in my life? What can I realistically do about it? We may find that many things that worry us are really unimportant. We may find that we are trying to change things that cannot be changed.

15. Look for Support Sometimes a support group can help us achieve a sense of detachment and serenity, making it easier to put life’s obstacles in perspective. Set up a support system in advance – friends, supportive family members, community groups, religious organizations, other ….

16. Get Help When You Need It Learn to identify the signals that can tell you when you are getting sad and withdrawn. You may begin to feel irritable, tired, sleepless, forgetful. When you see these signs get help.

17. Strategies for Change Q & A Questions and Answers