The Clark County Complete Health Improvement Program (CHIP) is bringing to the area one of the most successful lifestyle health improvement programs in the world, “CHIP+.”
This is the first time this program, completely updated with the most current scientific information on confronting and reversing diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, reducing high cholesterol, obesity and weight loss will be presented anywhere in the world.
It made its debut in the Battle Ground area at the Meadow Glade Seventh-Day Adventist Church on Jan. 27. A 12-week program designed to educate and encourage, while assisting participants to succeed at meeting the seemingly-elusive goal of attaining optimal health.
“We tried out the initial stages of the program over the last two years in Battle Ground, Vancouver and in Ridgefield, but this is the first time the entire new format will be available on the West Coast,” said Clark County CHIP director Jim Moor. “We’re hoping it can get out farther into the community and help more people get themselves back on their feet.”
For over 25 years, the original CHIP Program has helped over 55,000 participants and the CHIP+ program is scientifically proven with measurable medical results and more than 20 medical articles in peer-reviewed journals like the American Journal of Cardiology, the Journal of the American Diatetic Association, and Preventive Medicine.
“The time had come to update the materials as some of them were from when the program was put together,” said Moor. “Fortunately, we got a $4 million investment from a company in Australia to do it and now we’re also developing cloud-based software to make new materials even more available to participants.”
While the program offers assistance with a host of different physical and mental issues, Moor added that it also emphasizes each participant’s need to change their lifestyle, which is not an easy thing to do.
“We’ve become more willing to take a pill without realizing that making some big changes can get you off those medications for good,” said Moor. “Some other people spend upwards of $25,000 to go to a live-in community in Florida to learn the same things we cover in 12 weeks.”
One of the ways the CHIP+ program helps bring those changes about is by educating participants about the virtue of moving away from processed food to more organics and taking time to cook.
“People can be surprised how little it takes to make a big impact, and that’s where the classes and live demonstrations become invaluable,” Moor said.
The CHIP+ program is also entirely volunteer-run, with all proceeds from the program’s tuition going back into the program itself.
“Our people aren’t paid to be there. They do it because it’s part of our hope to build a community that can help each other based on what they learn,” Moor said.
As the program’s evolved, it’s also expanded to four separate “tracks” designed to help people in different areas of society – community, Adventus (church), corporate and hospital.
“We’ve gotten a response from Kaiser Permanente that they are utilizing our program at their hospital in Riverside, California to help their patients recover from all the issues we cover,” said Moor.
The program runs two nights a week, Sunday and Thursday nights for the first six weeks, then shifts to every Sunday night for the final six weeks. Participants receive three health screenings, which include three blood tests, one at the beginning, middle and end of the 12 weeks. To ensure each participant’s success, the program includes a grocery shopping trip, cooking class and live demonstrations. They also offer walking clubs, a “Couch Potato-to-5K run,” and a wide variety of specialists coming into share their experience.
A light supper will also be provided each evening. More information can be found at their website, www.CHIPhealth.com or by calling (360) 608-5250. Meadow Glade Seventh-day Adventist Church is located at 11001 NE 189th St., in Battle Ground.
