How to use the conversation guides
How to use the conversation guides
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The Nourish and Flourish conversation guides on this website promote physical health through nutrition and physical activity while fostering connections to mental well-being. We invite staff, mental health professionals, and facilitators who work in community-based mental health support programs to use the guides to initiate conversations using non-judgmental, trauma-informed messages, and motivational interviewing strategies.
The conversation guides are valuable tools for facilitating engaging discussions about nutrition and physical activity and their connections to mental well-being with clients in community mental health support programs.
Use one guide at a time to have brief conversations, and then move on to other guides. Go back to already used guides to discuss successes and challenges.
Current topics include Food Choices, Cooking at Home, Physical Activity, Nature, Mindful Eating, Creativity, and Holistic Health.
Make the most of your time together
Make the most of your time together
Who this is for: Individuals and practitioners helping people interested in their own health and wellness.
How to begin: Choose a topic to open the conversation! The guides are not scripts, you do not need to follow them word-for-word.
Key messages: Each card highlights key messages for discussion.
Discussion: Talk about a topic or health theme and ask reflection questions.
Behavior: Explore a suggested healthy behavior, and allow people to come up with behaviors that work for them.
Agree to change: The best goal-making decisions come directly from the person making a change. We provide examples in the guide. Achievable goals have a short time frame. Use a quick 1-10 scale to gauge a person’s comfort with a goal. What helps with success in meeting a goal?
The flow of conversation in each guide:
The flow of conversation in each guide:
Begin the conversation by reading the key messages.
Begin the conversation by reading the key messages.
Share important information about the topic.
Choose an open-ended question to reflect on the topic.
Come up with ideas for a specific goal.
Select a change (ideally goals from the person, the guides provide ideas).
Help the client make a plan.
Assess the client's confidence in meeting their goal.
Share important information about the topic.
Choose an open-ended question to reflect on the topic.
Come up with ideas for a specific goal.
Select a change (ideally goals from the person, the guides provide ideas).
Help the client make a plan.
Assess the client's confidence in meeting their goal.
Video Introduction:
Video Introduction:
The Nourish and Flourish conversation guides promote health through nutrition and physical activity while fostering connections to mental wellbeing. The conversation guides can be used by mental health support staff to help start conversations about different topics focused on health and nutrition to enable clients to practice healthy lifestyles and make small behavioral changes.
Please view this training video to learn how to use the Nourish and Flourish Conversation Guides.
Please contact Abby Gold for more information, agold@umn.edu.
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