Health benefits achieved through the Seventh-Day Adventist Wellness Challenge program

Context . The Wellness Challenge program introduces the philosophy of the h ealing power of God and stresses the importance of developing a sense of sp irituality in conjunction with the promotion of good health. Objective . To employ scientific rigor to the outcome measures of the Seven th Day Adventist Wellness Challenge program. Design . A 2-tailed paired sample t test. Setting . East Pasco Medical Center in Zephyrhills, Fla. Participants . 165 participants. Intervention . Presurvey, 21-day outpatien t wellness intervention; postsurvey, 6 weeks after completion of the progra m. Main Outcome Measures . Changes in behaviors related to cigarette smoking, alcohol use, earing patterns, exercise, water consumption, rest, relaxation , and time spent outdoors, as well as demographic data. Results . Statistically significant differences were found between the pre- and postprogram clinical and laboratory test results for the participants' blood pressure, weight, glucose levels, and cholesterol at .05 alpha. Furt hermore, self-health improvements measured by a pre- and postsurvey respons e confirmed statistically significant improvement in participants' willingn ess to improve their lifestyle behaviors for a potentially greater quality of life. Conclusion . The Wellness Challenge program offers ways to reduce risk fact ors related to chronic disease while improving the quality of life within a n adult population by allowing people to slowly incorporate newly acquired tools into their everyday life.