Tag Archives: physical health

Older Driver Safety Awareness Week

December 9, 2018 Health Alliance Leave a comment

It’s Older Driver Safety Awareness Week, and the ability to drive safely can be affected by changes in our physical, emotional, and cognitive health. Although these changes are part of normal aging, they can affect each individual at different rates.

Just as one plans for retirement, it’s important to plan for your transportation needs.

December is the perfect time to have a conversation with loved ones as you come together for the holidays.

Talking to Family About Driving As They Age

When an older driver decides it’s time for a check-up, useful driving fitness education tools can help identify challenges and help them adjust.

Evaluate Your Ability to Drive As You Age

Driving intervention plans, drawn up between a client and therapist, can help older individuals drive safely for as long as possible.

When someone needs to adjust to keep driving or can no longer drive, family and friends can help with resources for independent transportation in the community.

Exploring alternative types of transportation can help older adults stay independent. Options can include community networks, public transit, and ride sharing apps.

Vision problems and certain medications can also cause issues driving early. Talk to your doctor to get help.

Education, Health and Wellness

Self-Care Month

July 8, 2018 Health Alliance Leave a comment

It’s Self-Care Month, and if you’re not sure why self-care matters, these TED talks can explain why your emotional and physical health should be a priority.

If you’ve never focused on self-care before, these 10 habits are a great way to get started.

Create a relaxing routine for self-care. Whether it’s herbal tea and reading a book before bed or coffee and the newspaper in the morning, taking structured time for yourself is a great way to wind down and prepare you for the next thing.

Take a break from technology. Whether it’s picking up a book, heading outdoors, or just spending time with friends or family, turning off the news and social media can help you refocus on yourself.

If you need to be more mindful or focus on relaxation, even if it’s only for 5 minutes, find a meditation app that can help guide you.

Learn something new. Cooking or baking new recipes, knitting, or playing an instrument requires you to focus but can also give you time to yourself.

Mixing up your day-to-day routine, like taking a different route to work, can help you get out of a rut, and these little changes can help you create new neural pathways to keep the brain healthy and build new habits.

Education, Health and Wellness

Depression Awareness for Suicide Prevention Month

September 17, 2017 Health Alliance Leave a comment

It’s National Suicide Prevention Month, and someone with depression dies of suicide every 13 minutes, over 41,000 people per year. We spent the week raising depression awareness.

Depression affects more than 18 million, or 1 in 10, people and takes an economic toll of over $100 billion in the U.S. each year.

Severe depression can be one of the most debilitating conditions, rated in the same category as terminal cancer.

Fewer than half of the people in the world with depression get treatment because of lack of resources or the stigma of mental health issues.

Depression can be caused by social, psychological, and biological factors, and your physical health can make a difference. Exercise can help.

There are treatments for moderate and severe depression, from therapy to medicine.

You can also adjust your lifestyle to improve depression. Avoid stress, alcohol, and drugs, maintain a healthy diet, and get plenty of sleep and exercise.

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Education, Health and Wellness

Stress Awareness Month

April 17, 2016 Health Alliance 1 Comment

It’s Stress Awareness Month, and 30% of Americans feel it affects their physical health. Relaxing is good for your heart and mind and can reduce the chance of stroke, colds, obesity, depression, and breast cancer.

Try aromatherapy with citrus scents, which can reduce stress.

Reading for just 6 minutes could reduce your stress by 68%, which is more than some other popular de-stressing methods.

Looking for a snack to take the stressful edge off your afternoon? Try these.

Science has found that your dog can reduce your stress, especially if you take it to work.

Try the Chocolate Meditation for an easy and tasty intro to the stress-busting activity.

Whether you’re trying to meditate, get better sleep, or be inspired, these apps can help you reduce stress.

Benefits, Education, Health and Wellness

National Women’s Health Week

May 10, 2015 Health Alliance Leave a comment

Next week is National Women’s Health Week, so had more info on the subject each day this week.

Are you wondering what steps you should be taking for better health? It’s different for every age. Find out what you should be doing.

Did you know your annual well-woman visit is covered by your insurance? Don’t let anything stand in the way for getting screened. Things to know about your visit:

Get active! You can reduce your risk of many diseases by exercising for just 30 minutes a day. So skip that Friends rerun and get busy:

Your mental health and stress can hurt your physical health, and women are more likely to have anxiety and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)sm. Tips to take care of your brain too:

Women and Their Mental Health Infographic

Risky actions are unhealthy for you, and your family. Protect them by making smart choices:

What you put in your body matters, and you have to make those decisions 200 times a day! Make smart ones for better health:

Take the National Women’s Health Week pledge to join women across the nation who are coming together to take a step towards better health.

Education, Series, Vantage Point

Vantage Point: Tackling the Tough Subjects

June 1, 2014 Vantage Point Leave a comment

My Mom tries to have this conversation with me that starts, “Shannon, if something bad happens…”

I usually cut her off. “Mom I am not ready to talk about this yet; we have time.”

The truth is if something unforeseen happens, I am not clear on her wishes.

There are many reasons any of us may need help with caring for our personal, financial, and health needs. The most common are part of the aging process. Estate planning, durable power of attorney, trustees, living wills, and guardianship all sound daunting, but their true purpose is to find the best means to care for those in need. This is possible by planning ahead now.

A health care durable power of attorney can be any person 18 or older who you trust to make health care decisions for you. Anyone taking on the role of power of attorney, trustee, or guardian (whether they be a family member, a professional, or court-appointed) should be a good communicator and have the loyalty and commitment to follow your wishes to the best of their ability.

An estate planner can help you and those close to you understand important information, but can be expensive. Aging and Adult Care offices of Central Washington has a living will kit called “Five Wishes,” which is a legal way to document who you want to take care of you, what kind of medical treatment you want, how comfortable you want to be, how you want to be treated, and what you want your loved ones to know. That is a great option for making your wishes known.

At Health Alliance Medicare, we work hard to try to take good care of our member’s physical and mental health to ensure they have the most graceful golden years possible. We also encourage you to think ahead to make future health care decisions that are in your best interest. This includes tackling the tough subjects, such as end of life care. From what I have learned the topic, though hard to discuss, is too important put off.

I am going to start by asking, “Mom, just in case something bad happens…what are your wishes?”

Shannon Sims is a Medicare community liaison for Health Alliance, serving Chelan, Douglas, Grant, and Okanogan counties in Washington. She has four adult sons and two grandsons. During her time off, she performs as part of a rodeo drill team on her horse, Skeeter.