INA Those interested in a career in health care, Rend Lake College is offering a Community Health Care course.

Community Health Care is a study of key issues and focuses on developing practical approaches to supporting patients. The class will be from 1 to 4 p.m. Mondays beginning Jan. 13 and will run through May 12 at the Rend Lake College MarketPlace in Mount Vernon.

The course aims to give individuals the foundation for a future career in the health care industry. It also provides great information for family members caring for elderly or sick relatives.

The health care field is still seeing rapid growth in terms of occupations, Kim Robert, dean of RLCs Allied Health Division, said in a news release. Health care coaching is just another aspect of that, as new jobs and disciplines emerge. St. Marys Good Samaritan sees a need for health care coaches, and we are glad to work with them to develop the training for it.

Health care coaches, also known as wellness or health coaches, will help individuals implement the activities and plans the patient creates with his or her nurse, social worker or other clinician. The goal of the health care coach is to motivate and lead his or her clients to positive behavioral change and better health.

Topics covered will include: challenges of delivering adequate health care in communities; population medicine; specific problems posed by diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease; ethical dimensions of the concept of underinsurance; community medicine and the law; methods of improving compliance, and measuring outcomes.

The classroom course format is three hours of lecture, while the internship period with St. Marys Good Samaritan is in-the-field and may include accompanying individuals to doctors appointments, going to individuals homes to assist in a healthy home set up, and providing reinforcement of directions given by health care providers.

For more information or to register for Community Health Care, contact the Rend Lake College Allied Health Division at 618-437-5321, ext. 1251, or at alliedhealth@rlc.edu.

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Rend Lake College launches Community Health Care class