Healthy Connections Articles
Laughter and Work Actually Do Mix
What’s so funny about work? Well, depending on where you’re sitting and your position in the organizational hierarchy, just about everything! Come on, now, you have to admit it: Who doesn’t laugh at work? And if they don’t, what do you honestly think about them? We all know that person – stiff, always serious, never smiling or seeming to enjoy work or their life . . . a sad stereotype. But whatever their reasons for being who and how they are, the uber serious aren’t just missing out, they are … [Read More...]
Be a Fifteen Percenter
Okay, it’s March -- time to run a quick health and wellness resolution mental checklist: One, I’m getting to the gym every other day, or walking 20 minutes a day when I don’t get to the gym. Two, on the nutrition front, I’m reducing my sugar and sweets intake, limiting anything made with white flour, cutting back on salt, and eating way less yummy fats and fried foods. Three, going easy on the alcohol, soda, caffeine and fruit juices, and drinking lots more water. Four, meditating in the morning … [Read More...]
Increasing Patient Safety Awareness
Are you a good patient? Seriously, have you given much thought to this important topic? Patient safety isn’t just about limiting medical errors, preventing infections in the hospital or about reducing missed diagnoses . . . it’s about engagement, participation and anticipation to help ensure better understanding and results. Our own behavior, choices and responsibility play key roles in health and wellness, yet many patients fail to understand, or worse, disregard or ignore their own duties … [Read More...]
Heart Our Kidneys
Our kidneys are workaholics. Seriously. When they report to work normally, wastes and water are routed to our bladders and flushed away as urine. If they start sloughing off, harmful waste including toxins and extra water build up in our blood. Fortunately, we have two kidneys, each containing about a million tiny filters that process approximately 40 gallons of fluid daily. Our kidneys also produce several hormones which help control blood pressure, make red blood cells and activate vitamin … [Read More...]
Being Mindful Throughout the Day
A lot has been written about stress-reduction techniques like exercise, yoga, meditation and mindfulness. While all offer methods for strengthening our bodies and our minds, each technique may not be practical at work, at school, or while shopping or driving in traffic. Yet there’s no question that the ability to calm ourselves and improve focus reduces tension, improves our mood, is good for heart health (February is National Heart health Awareness Month), and increases productivity, morale and … [Read More...]
Woowhee, It’s Cold Out There
We’ve already seen sub-zero temperatures in Connecticut, and winter is barely half over (Groundhog’s Day was February 2nd). If you work or recreate outdoors, you have to take extra precautions. If you dress for the cold, wearing multiple layers and properly covering your head, hands and feet, it’s uncomfortable but tolerable. However, for five percent of Americans suffering from Raynaud’s Disease, dressing warmly still may not be enough to avoid extra discomfort, chaffing and pain from exposure … [Read More...]
Hashtags, Smiley Faces, and Love
Remember when we were kids and we gave each other simple cut-out valentine cards and those little heart-shaped, multi-colored tasteless candies with pithy expressions such as “Be mine,” and “love u 4ever” on them? Then, as we grew older, there were the ubiquitous chocolates and roses, perfumes and colognes, dinner at jammed restaurants and, for the truly lucky, sexy lingerie or boxers with hearts to be viewed and enjoyed. But it all became pretty straightforward, ritualistic . . . and … [Read More...]
Putting Disease Management Programs to Work
People with chronic health conditions can benefit from specialized healthcare outreach and self-management programs in place at CBIA’s health benefits partners, ConnectiCare and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. These programs help patients manage their conditions more effectively, with the goal of enhancing patient knowledge about specific diseases, encouraging compliance, preventing painful or dangerous complications as much as possible, and mitigating flareups when they occur. ConnectiCare’s … [Read More...]
Protecting Ourselves from the Cold
On the surface, talking about how to shovel and dress properly for cold-weather work, chores and play seems unnecessary – after all, we’re grownups and it’s not our first winter rodeo. However, it’s amazing how many millions of Americans end up in emergency rooms across the country every year suffering from show-shoveling-related back and shoulder injuries, frost bite or hypothermia. While winter drives many people indoors to weather the deep freeze and shorter days, the season also abounds … [Read More...]
Here’s A “D” You’ll Want on Your Report Card
Vitamin D is a critical building block for ensuring strong bones and helping prevent or mitigate a variety of diseases that affect us as we age. Vitamin D helps our body absorb calcium, one of the main building blocks of bone. Vitamin D also plays a role in keeping our nervous, muscle, and immune systems healthy. We can get vitamin D in three ways: through our skin, from our diet, and from supplements. Our body forms vitamin D naturally after exposure to sunlight. But too much sun … [Read More...]
