How do you stay motivated to achieve your health and wellness goals? We’d like your ideas and tips about eating right and exercising. Please email HealthinAction@pdrma.org with your story or suggest another PDRMA Health Program participant who has inspired you for us to feature in a profile. Help us to stay focused on health and wellness!

When we add new members to our Health Program, it turns out PATH is one of the deciding factors for them.

Just ask Lisa Santoria, Human Resources Manager and Wellness Ambassador for Western DuPage Special Recreation Association (WDSRA), which joined PDRMA Health Jan. 1 of this year. Santoria says the PATH wellness program played a part in the agency’s decision to choose PDRMA — and their employees’ have appreciated that decision from the beginning.

“More than half our employees joined right away,” she says, “others continue to join, and they jump right into the activities. There are some great challenges and really good mental health resources. I often get messages from employees telling me how much they really like PATH. And they love the incentive of being able to earn up to $100 every quarter!”

Lea Jackman after her morning bike ride.

Lea Jackman, WDSRA Superintendent of Development and Communications, is one of those employees who told Lisa she uses PATH every day, and Tammy Kerrins, Superintendent of Staffing and Support Services, also is on the PATH portal several times each day.

“I love the convenience of using all the features from my phone,” adds Jackman. “I work out in the morning and record everything immediately afterwards.”

Santoria herself is on PATH every day, too. “I love tracking my daily habits.” It even inspired her to make changes in her daily life, specifically her diet. “I really do try to eat more fruits and vegetables now — and thanks to PATH, it’s becoming a habit.

“I also really like the mental health piece of it,” adds Santoria, “where it asks you to choose your mood. I always want to answer honestly with a big smile or a happy smile and try not to choose the grumpy face. It helps me be a bit more self-aware, and I’m more conscious now that it’s my choice to choose my mood each morning.”

Jackman especially likes the cards and health habits. “I like recording my workouts, how much water I’m drinking and the team-based walking challenges with my coworkers. I also occasionally give shout-outs to my app ‘friends.’

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“Just the act of recording things is a motivator to be sure, and once you begin sticking to the things you do, they become habits. I very much dislike it when I don’t get my morning or weekend ride in! It all just makes me feel better!”

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Kerrins is another enthusiastic user. “PATH is a useful tool to hold me more accountable for choices I make regarding my health — eating the right foods, getting enough rest and exercising. I’m motivated to earn points each day,” she adds, “and get the cash incentives. I especially enjoy checking out the steps leaderboard. I’m competitive and determined to stay above the 49,000 steps-per-day line on the app. It really motivates me to get active.

Summer Walking Challenge WDSRA team members (L-R) Becky Prince, Lisa Santoria, Rachel Pavesich and Lea Jackman. Meghan Ferguson (absent).

“One of my favorite parts is the team challenges,” Kerrins explains. “When we received the notification to join the new challenge, I reached out to all full-time staff here, asking for voluntary participation. I was hoping we would get one or maybe two teams, so I was thrilled to get so many responses that we had three full teams at WDSRA!”

Kerrins says she also accesses PATH a number of times a day. “I start each day by looking to see how many steps I’ve logged and participate in most of the opportunities PATH offers. Every morning, I do the daily cards and track my healthy habits for nutrition, sleep and exercise.” 

The best part for Kerrins is that PATH has helped her make positive changes in her life. “It’s really holding me more accountable for my personal choices regarding my health. Now that I log information in PATH, I’ve become much more active. I’ve also greatly improved the amount of sleep I get each night, and I’m making better food choices. It has really helped get me on my ‘path’ to better health.”