is that we can learn about stress in people and organizations by relating it to stress in these other realms. Forty-three percent of all adults suffer adverse health effects from stress. It has been estimated that seventy-five to 90% of all doctor's office visits are for stress-related ailments and complaints. Stress is linked to six of the leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) declared stress a hazard of the workplace. In terms of lost hours due to absenteeism, reduced productivity and workers' compensation benefits, stress costs American industry more than $300 billion annually. “Research now indicates that children between the ages of 9 – 18 are one of the more stressed out age groups. Fact: diagnosis of ADD, ADHD, learning disabilities and performance anxiety has reached epidemic proportions. Treatment for ADD and ADHD often result in prescribed class II narcotics.” The purpose of this proposal is to reduce stress and stress-related illnesses through energy management, rather than stress management or time management. This will be accomplished by developing, delivering, and evaluating a curriculum based on research by Susan Meredith. Principles such as stress, strain, pressure, dynamic equilibrium, and dissipative structures in the physical world will be explained and correlated to the same principles in our personal lives. The pilot will include key experts on stress in their associated fields. By looking at the commonalities and the differences of stress across multiple disciplines, distinctions will be made that will create inroads in various fields. This comprehensive approach to stress is unique.

Describe the critical need your solution addresses.

The foundational material for this project has been recorded in a 97-page document.

The project has three phases.
Phase 1 is to develop and pilot the curriculum based on laws of stress and energy management. We will develop eight half-day modules to teach how stress in nature applies to stress in human nature. The curriculum will be developed utilizing experiential methodologies combined with traditional teaching methods. Materials are to include a participant’s manual, an instructor guide, physical artifacts, practical activities to deal with stress, as well as a feedback form to evaluate the program. Attendees of the Pilot will include experts in stress-related fields across a broad spectrum.

Phase 2 is the Confirmation Studies to deliver the curriculum to various populations. Data will be collected to confirm the effectiveness of the program developed in Phase 1 at reducing stress and improving health.

Phase 3 is to develop an online interactive tool that will reduce stress-related problems by educating people on the laws of stress in nature and how they apply to human nature, and by directing them to the resources that will provide further assistance to them.

The funding from the Buckminster Fuller Challenge will be used for Phase 1 and the start of Phase 2.

Explain your initiative in more depth and its stage of development.

“(Nursing) Demand is still outpacing supply, with over a million U.S. vacancies expected by 2012. A 2002 New York State survey, the most recent of its kind, found 3,700 vacancies in city hospitals and 20,000 statewide.” While one solution is to train more nurses, another solution is to reduce the demand by reducing/minimizing stress-related illnesses.

This project addresses our urgent healthcare problems. Its efficacy will be verified with statistically valid assessment, it is replicable and feasible.

This study is also comprehensive in its approach and far-reaching in its impact. It creates the potential for reduction in stress-related illnesses (and thus high medical and insurance-related costs), stress-related fractures in materials and buildings, and stress-related environmental issues, to name a few.

How does your strategy and approach respond creatively and comprehensively to key issues?

Susan Meredith is founder and co-owner of HumanExcel, an Austin-based training and consulting firm. Susan spent 8 years in engineering, marketing and management at IBM, where she received awards for both technical and managerial excellence. She is also an internationally recognized expert in "Six Sigma" and "Business Process Improvement" programs, and is a Master Instructor for Motorola University as well as for Dell in the areas of Business Improvement and Statistical Methods. This background will be useful in the statistical analysis in Phase 2. Susan will also use her research from a Think Tank with UT faculty and medical professionals on the laws of stress, which is the basis of this proposal.Susan is also the author of the recently published book “Beyond Light Bulbs: Lighting the Way to Smarter Energy Management.” Her knowledge on global energy management will also add value to this project.

Current advisors for this endeavor are Professor James Pennebaker, Associate Chair of Psychology at the University of Texas, James Davis, Senior Vice President at Seton Healthcare Network, and William G. Robertson, III, M.D., F.A.C.S., who has worked with stress-related illnesses in his practice as a colorectal surgeon.