The purpose of this project is to determine if a worksite wellness intervention using a theoretically-based self-management model increases confidence for carrying out healthy behaviors and improves health practices of participating employees. The research questions are: 1) does the intervention produce between group differences in behavior self-efficacy and actual health behaviors, 2) are self-efficacy and performance of health behaviors related, and 3) do changes in self-efficacy result in changes in behavior.

The purpose of this project is to see if a six-week education program called Act Healthy! led by trained volunteers from the UM T.E. Atkins Wellness Program is able to help people who take the classes improve their confidence in their ability to choose good health behaviors and carry out new behaviors. The project will use the Stanford University Self-management education model and train volunteers to be teachers. People who work on the MU campus will be recruited to take a 50-minute class once a week for six weeks. Class members will complete questionnaires before and after the class and again three months later that ask about their health behaviors and confidence to perform health behaviors. This information will be analyzed to determine if the classes were effective in helping people act in healthier ways.

Inclusion Criteria:

• full-time employee of the University of Missouri

Exclusion Criteria:

• inability to read and speak in English