Fort Sill Wellness Center combats stress

By Ben Sherman, Fort SillNovember 7, 2013

Treadmill
Pvt. 1st Class Thomas Richards, 75th Fires Brigade, runs on a treadmill during a VO2 max test at the Fort Sill Army Wellness Center. The tests measures maximum capacity of a person's body to transport and use oxygen during exercise, and reflects a pe... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT SILL, Okla. (Nov. 7, 2013) -- There are many stresses that arise in our lives, and they are often displayed in negative behaviors such as overeating and lack of exercise. But these life stresses don't have to lead to negative results. You have the power to create positive outcomes from those negative circumstances.

This is where the Fort Sill Army Wellness Center (AWC) can provide resources to educate and coach people as they discover how to take control of your health. Stephanie Ryan, AWC director, said that the services they provide can help individuals meet their health goals by teaching a person how to respond to stressful events.

"Our approach is holistic as we focus on the person as a whole being. The holistic approach means looking at the different aspects of well being within seven dimensions of wellness. We look at the different aspects of a person's health within these dimensions to evaluate their state of well being," Ryan said.

Ryan emphasized that the AWC is not an exercise program. They provide health education and physiological measurements that shows a person's current state, so as they work on the plan that is developed for them they can track their progress. "We provide the numbers, the education and motivation for a person to implement a healthy plan on their own, and we are there along the way to help support them," she said.

"The first step is to set up a metabolic analysis along with a body composition analysis. The first appointment includes those two tests. To measure body composition, we use what we call the 'Bod Pod' that determines the amount of body fat a person has. Then we measure their resting metabolic rate (how many calories a person burns at rest in 24 hours) and assess their cardio respiratory fitness level."

Next Ryan said her staff of two health educators, one nurse educator and one health promotion technician offer stress management education classes and also biofeedback.

"We do an evaluation to see what level of stress a person has on the perceived stress scale. We do that when they first come in as a benchmark. Then the person does five one-hour biofeedback sessions with a health educator on a one-to-one basis," she said.

"During the sessions a person can see their heart rate variability and their coherence level on a monitor. A low coherence level shows a frustrated state, while a high coherence level reflects a relaxed state. The more relaxed they are, with steady breathing and calm thoughts, then the more coherent they are going to be. We can actually see what their stress looks like on the monitor. Then we do another perceived stress evaluation to see how far they have come," Ryan said.

"Our primary focus is on the mind and the body. We use the state of the art equipment to ensure the results are accurate, and then we have one of our qualified staff walk with the client on their journey to a healthier lifestyle," emphasized Ryan.

The services of AWC are free and available to all active duty personnel, their family members, retirees, Army civilians and contractors.