Pictured: Sarah Banasiewicz stocks the SRC refrigerator

After a year-long hiatus due to COVID-19, we are excited to announce the return of our two wellness refrigerators. 

Every month, our department stocks two refrigerators with healthy snacks for all physical medicine & rehabilitation faculty, staff, and trainees. This effort is to ensure that even on busy days, we have healthy options onsite to help fuel our team. This shared experience has certianly been missed. "It feels like one more peice of what the pandemic took away from us is finally being restored", said Dr. Casey Azuero.

Dr. Megan Hays, clinical psychologist in the UAB Office of Wellness, shares a few evidence-based tips that the wellness refrigerators help facilitate:

• Stimulus Control: Studies show that visible and reachable food items are often cues for unplanned eating. For those hoping to lose weight, this means that keeping junk food at eye level and within easy reach can impede weight management progress. The wellness fridge is set up for stimulus control because everything in the refrigerator is generally a whole food with nutritional value. Although donuts have their place in life, we do not keep junk food items in the wellness fridge for this reason. 

• Habit Research: If you have read the popular book Atomic Habits by James Clear, you may be familiar with the Four Laws of Behavior Change that we can utilize to build better habits. Our PM&R wellness fridge fits right in with those guidelines, which are: 1) make it obvious - the wellness fridge is front and center in the SRC breakroom!, 2) make it attractive - the fridge content sure looks nice when fully stocked and organized, 3) make it easy - I mean, the fridge couldn't be more convenient when at work, and every option is a healthy one, and 4) make it satisfying - the food tastes good and is also more filling than junk food. 

• Eliminating Shopping Temptation: One barrier to weight management can be what I call "shopping while hangry." The PM&R wellness fridge eliminates this barrier since the shopping is done online and already completed for employees, so the decision to choose only nutritious and filling snacks and drinks is already made for us before the food even arrives.

• Nurturing Social Relationships: Social relationships are important for both mental well-being as well as physical health. Research has demonstrated that those with close friends and family are healthier and live much longer than those who do not. We have noticed that the PM&R wellness fridge really brings people together and strikes up conversations between employees who may not otherwise have the opportunity to interact frequently.