health education | wellness

Author: Amy

5 Ways to Engage with Patients More Effectively

One of the biggest buzzwords in the corporate world, at universities, and in the health care business is engagement. Whether you are doing it through face-to-face consultation, email correspondence, social media platforms, or by having a well-trained and attentive staff who can answer patient questions, engaging effectively is a vital asset. To help generate that kind of value-adding engagement, here are five tips or ways to engage with patients more effectively.

Stay in Touch

Whether it is through newsletters, Twitter tweets, Facebook updates, or in-office health seminars and similar events, keeping in touch is the key to patient engagement.

Patient Surveys

A great way to get feedback from your patients while making them feel more involved in their health care is to use anonymous electronic surveys. Ask patients questions to determine how satisfied they are, how informed they are, or what suggestions they have for your office.

In-House Workshops

Another engagement tool that patients love is when you host health-related seminars at your office. These could be about topics like nutrition or exercise, or you could invite professionals from complementary modalities like massage or acupuncture to give presentations and answer questions.

Invest in Staff Training

If your staff – from the receptionist to the lab technician to your nurses – are better equipped to know how to be active listeners, they can become your eyes and ears. That alone can significantly magnify the level of patient engagement as they continuously dialog with patients on any number of different issues and consciously nurture interpersonal patient/provider relationships.

Schedule More Wisely

Because health care professionals are so busy these days, it is easy to overlook the value and importance of patient engagement. The most direct kind of engagement is talking one-on-one with your patient, and the best opportunity to make that happen is during routine office visits. So set aside an extra 10 minutes per patient and you’ll exponentially increase the level of engagement.

July 21, 2015
Benefits of Sprouting: How to Sprout Seeds, Grains, and Greens
There is an expression that good things come in small packages and sprouts are a perfect example of that—a nutritional powerhouse tucked inside a seed.

The process of sprouting involves germinating seeds, which “sprout” or grow into tiny nutritious plants, and are then eaten raw or cooked. Many different kinds of grasses, grains, beans, and greens can be sprouted. Some of the most popular sprouts are mung beans, alfalfa, broccoli, and clover, as well as “ancient grains” and chickpeas. If you look, you can find some of these common sprouts in the produce section of many grocery stores.

Nutritional Benefits of Sprouting

Sprouting can provide many health and nutrition benefits. Back in the 1920s an American professor named Edmond Szekely championed what he called “bio-genic” nutrition saying that sprouted seeds and baby green were the most nutritionally beneficial foods that support cell regeneration (Sprouts-as-Medicine, 2008).

Sprouts are widely praised for being high in dietary fiber, B complex vitamins (particularly B2, B5, and B6) and protein. In addition, germinating seeds produces high levels of vitamin C and increases beta carotene levels.

The changes that that occur during the sprouting process make it easier for the body to digest and derive nutrients from sprouted seed, legumes, and plants. For example, sprouting breaks down complex sugars into simpler glucose molecules and neutralizes enzyme inhibitors allowing for easier digestion. (Harris, 2009) And, sprouting whole grains reduces the amount of starch they contain and boosts their nutritional value.

There are even some claims that particular sprouts have specific benefits such as clover (for menopause symptoms in women), mung beans (for heart and blood health), and cress (for clean skin and blood purification) (Sprouts-as-Medicine, 2008).

How To Sprout

For beginners the sprouting process can seem complicated and intimidating, but once you get acclimated, it is fairly straightforward. The basic process is as follows:
1. Fill a Mason jar 1/3 with seeds and the rest with filtered water.
2. Soak seeds* in a Mason jar with mesh or a screen in place of the metal lid insert.
3. Drain, rinse, and refill with the seeds and 2-3 times fresh water. Repeat this step every few hours or at least twice a day.
4. Flip the jar and/or invert to allow for air circulation.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for as long as necessary until the seeds start sprouting.*
*Soaking times and sprouting times vary for different seeds/plants. There are myriad charts available online (Vegetarian Times) that detail the specific lengths of time required. Generally, most seeds require soaking times between 6-12 hours and the majority sprout within 1-4 days. For example, alfalfa sprouts in 2-5 days, while some plants will begin sprouting in less than a day.

Once the seeds have sprouted, be sure to give them a final rinse and dry them out to inhibit bacteria growth. This is often done by placing in a sunny spot for a few hours, which also helps the plants get greener. Any harmful components that nuts or seeds may contain are eliminated during the initial soaking period, which takes place prior to sprouting.

For more information and reources, we recommend checking out SproutPeople.

References

Harris, Kimberly (2009). Why Sprout? retrieved on July 13, 2015 from www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2009/01/why-sprout.html.

Masters, Tess (2013). How to Soak and Sprout Nuts, Seeds, Grains and Beans retrieved on July 13, 2015 from www.vegetariantimes.com/blog/how-to-soak-and-sprout-nuts-seeds-grains-and-beans/.

Sprouts (2008). Retrieved on July 13, 2015 from www.sprouts-as-medicine.com.

Hot to Sprout: Seeds, Beans, Grains (n.d.). Retrieved on July 13, 2015 from http://tasty-yummies.com/2014/04/22/how-to-sprout-seeds-beans-grains/.
July 20, 2015
Five Practical Tips to Avoid Drug Interactions

It is accepted for people to combine foods when eating lunch or dinner as this activity makes eating more enjoyable. What is not accepted is for people to combine the use of medication, which is known as drug interactions. A drug interaction is the act of mixing incompatible medications that can cause dangerous side effects to the body. If you are taking various medications, here are a few tips on how you can avoid drug interactions, which may cause harm to your health.

Consult your physician first.

It is common for many people to self-medicate themselves when they are sick. Self-medication is unacceptable if you want to avoid the consequences of drug-drug interactions. If you must take medication, always consult your doctor first. Ask them about any restrictions that you need to strictly follow when taking new medication.

Make a list of all your medications.

As your physician meets with you, he or she will always ask what current medication you are taking, if any. This information is very important for doctors as they use this to prescribe the ideal medication that is compatible with the current medicine that you are taking. Making a list of all the medicine that you are currently using will be very helpful to your doctor prescribing new medication if necessary.

Read warning labels.

If you are taking medication for a cold or the flu, you must always make it a point to read the warning labels found on their bottles. Labels contain a lot of information such as warnings, side-effects, and uses. Knowing this information is vital for medicine users as they know what the medication does and when to consult a physician in the event of side effects occurring.

Buy your medicine from one specific pharmacy.

When buying prescribed or over-the-counter medication, you may want to consider buying them regularly from one specific pharmacy. This lets you establish a personal relationship with the store’s pharmacist/s. With this relationship, you always have someone to ask questions or make clarifications regarding specific medications that you take. Keep in mind that having another trusted source of information aside from your doctor is always a good thing.

Keep your medicine in their proper containers.

One of the worst occurrences that can happen to you is to experience nasty side effects because you accidentally took the wrong medicine. To avoid these adverse side-effects, it is essential that you regularly keep your medicine in their original containers. This makes identifying them very easy; therefore, avoiding any confusion. You should also consider placing the containers in one specific area so that you always know where to find them.

Drug-drug interactions tend to result in numerous side effects that your body simply cannot afford. These side effects can complicate an already existing condition that you may suffer from. Following these 5 practical tips will allow you to effectively treat your condition without experiencing any complication that arises from mixing incompatible medicine.

References

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Avoiding drug interactions. Retrieved on 7/9/15 from http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm096386.htm

Drugwatch. Drug interactions. Retrieved on 7/9/15 from http://www.drugwatch.com/drug-interactions/

July 17, 2015
Reasons to Eat More Green Foods

Keeping track of what to eat and what to avoid can seem like a full-time job, particularly when you are preparing meals for an entire family. That is especially true in this day and age when so many processed foods and unhealthy choices are on menus and grocery store shelves. But one of the ways to simplify all of that is to always include plenty of green foods in your diet or with your meals.

Nature has basically given us a color-coding system to help us make smarter food choices. Select the fresh green vegetables and you really cannot go wrong, because they are one of the single most important parts of a healthy diet. Not only are they low in calories and sugar-free, but they contain concentrated amounts of helpful vitamins and minerals.

Why Green Foods?

Why are green foods like kale, spinach, romaine lettuce, asparagus, and peas so reliably healthy and good for us? For starters, they are all green for a reason, because they are high in chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is the agent that turns plants green and is essential to the process of photosynthesis. In grade school, students learn that photosynthesis helps purify the air and produces oxygen.

Likewise, eating green foods boosts your body’s oxygen supply so you have more energy and a stronger immune system. Without an adequate amount of oxygen, on the other hand, your blood is weaker and the heart, lungs, kidneys, and other vital organs have to work overtime. Your muscles need oxygen, which is why strenuous exercise makes you breather harder, and the brain actually uses about three times as much oxygen as the muscles do. So eating greens makes you both stronger and smarter.

Green foods also contain important cellular salts, digestive enzymes, and essential minerals like potassium. Eating more greens is also a way to improve your digestion!

July 16, 2015
Super Easy Mind-Body Techniques for Hospital Workers

Hospitals are a culture unlike any other. In many ways they function just like any other workplace environment. But anyone who even visits a hospital can quickly recognize that the work done there by staffers requires a special kind of person and an extraordinary commitment to the health care profession. The rest of the population shows up at hospitals to receive acute care, potentially life-saving treatment, or reassurance that they and their loved ones are properly looked after, 24/7.

That puts a huge demand and responsibility on the shoulders of hospital workers, who must maintain a calm, patient, highly professional demeanor – even when under great duress. So here are some helpful mind-body techniques that are very easy to do and can give you wonderful relief from the stress you may experience on the job.

Super Easy Mind-Body Techniques

Remind Yourself to Breathe!

Whenever you feel your blood pressure rising and the stress accumulating, remember to breathe. Pay attention to your diaphragm, breath slowly and deeply. That simple act can instantly help you find your “center” and feel grounded and calm.

Use Visualization Techniques

As you breathe those calming breathes visualize all of the stress you feel on the in-breath. Then, as you slowly exhale, visualize all of that tension and mental agitation leaving your body and evaporating. It may sound very “new age,” but even Navy SEALS use this kind of effective technique.

Nourish Yourself with Solitude

Wherever you work, find a personal sanctuary. Maybe it’s in the hospital chapel or on the roof, or just a quiet corner of a stairwell. Retreat there when the chaos becomes too much and treat yourself to a few precious minutes of pure solitude.

Calm Down Your Diet

You are what you eat, so to ensure healthier mind/body alignment eat a balanced, nutritious diet. But avoid the sugars and caffeinated drinks because those can cause irritating spikes in blood sugar, dehydration, and an elevated heart rate – all of which make you antsy and less able to stay cool, calm, and collected.

As the old saying goes, “physician, heal thyself.” Whether you are an actual physician or work in a hospital setting in some other capacity, you need to take care of yourself – for the sake of your own wellness and work/life balance. So consider incorporating these mind-body techniques into your lifestyle as a daily habit. You’ll feel better and be able to perform at your best for the betterment of your entire hospital team and the patients whom you serve.

July 15, 2015