Volunteers needed to lead Living Well With Chronic Conditions workshops

Volunteers are being sought by the Center for Human Development to lead Living Well With Chronic Conditions workshops. The workshops use a curriculum developed by Stanford University that shows people how to deal with chronic diseases.

People become certified to direct Living Well workshops after attending a four-session leader training workshop. No experience as a health professional is needed to direct the workshops. In fact, people without health backgrounds are encouraged to serve as workshop directors.

“Ideally this program is one that is peer-led ... It is just people helping people,’’ said Natalie Linton of the Center for Human Development.

Linton explained that drawing in non-health professionals will increase the pool of workshop directors, making it more likely that the Living Well With Chronic Conditions workshops could be be offered locally by the Center for Human Development for years to come.

“We want this program to be sustainable and ongoing,’’ Linton said.

People attending Living Well workshops meet once a week for six weeks for sessions that run from one and a half to two and a half hours.

To become certified to lead a Living Well workshop, one must attend a four-day training session. The training classes are conducted four days in a row or twice a week for two weeks.

Those who complete the leadership course will teach those in their workshops about practical ways to deal with pain and fatigue, new treatment options and better ways to talk with their doctor and family about their health.

The trained volunteer leaders will also teach others how to mange symptoms with medication, work with their health care team, handle difficult emotions, eat well and exercise safely.

Linton said that everyone has what it takes to lead a Living Well Chronic Conditions workshop. She explained that the script they are provided makes it easy to lead the workshops.

Dayneen Koopman, also of the CHD, said that people who step forward to instruct the workshop often surprise themselves. Koopman speaks from experience for she just helped lead a Living Well workshop in La Grande, which ended Nov. 10.

“I didn’t expect to like being a leader as much as I did ... Anyone can be a leader,’’ Koopman said.

She teamed up with Nancy Anderson of La Grande and Pepper McColgan of Wallowa County to lead the workshop. Koopman emphasized that leading a Living Well workshop is not difficult. All one has to do is read a script and coordinate group discussions.

“It is all mapped out,’’ Koopman said.

She said that leaders learn as much from the group discussion during the workshops as those attending them.

“The beauty of the class is that it becomes very organic, we all learn from each other,’’ Koopman said.

She said that in some ways the workshop is like a recovery group.

“We identify with each other’s problems,’’ Koopman said.

Koopman noted that she suffers from arthritis. When she heard someone who shares her condition, she could empathize.

“It resonated with me. I saw that person as a kindred spirit,’’ Koopman said.

As the workshop progressed, the bond she felt with her group became stronger and stronger.

“I got drawn into the camaraderie and shared experiences,’’ Koopman said.

A leadership training session may be conducted in February or March. Linton said that if at least 10 people in Union County sign up, the training session will be conducted in La Grande. For information on signing up, call Linton at 541-962-8836 or email her at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it