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Everyday, the lifestyle choices
you make can either help — or hinder — your goal to achieve maximum
wellness. With this in mind, we’ve created this area on our site with the
kinds of information that can help you assess and manage the health choices
you make. Enjoy your stay and come back again … and again.
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Take Charge of Your Health
By exercising your
rights as a health care consumer and assuming a share of the responsibilities,
you can take charge of your health!
Do You Know Your Rights?
Your rights as a
health care consumer come from many sources, starting with the contract between
you (or your employer) and your health insurance plan; others are guaranteed by
state and federal law. While the scope and type of care differ with each health
insurance plan, there are basic rights that apply in most cases:
• You have the
right to be in charge of your health care.
No matter which health
insurance plan you’ve chosen, you are ultimately in charge of your health
care. You have the right to be informed about your diagnosis and treatment
options as well as their potential risks, and the right to accept or refuse
that treatment. You also have the right to confidentiality in your treatment
and privacy regarding your medical records.
•
You have the right to be
informed.
No
matter how you obtain your health care coverage – through an individual policy you’ve purchased, through your work, or through a public program
such as
Medicare, Medi-Cal or CHAMPUS – your benefits and rights are spelled out in your Evidence of Coverage
(EOC) which is part of your
Health Plan
Contract. Ask questions if you don't understand it and keep it where you can
easily find it.
•
You have the right to
choose.
Health insurance plans often require you to get basic care from a primary
care
physician (often called a PCP). Whether your health plan calls your doctor a PCP, or you call him/her your family doctor, your health care
services begin here. The most important choice you can make is to select
a doctor who
is qualified, located near your home or work, and someone you trust. Regardless of your health plan, you have the right to choose your
doctor — and change your doctor — usually from among a list of
doctors approved
by your health plan.
• You have the right to good – and timely – health care.
You
deserve to be treated with respect in a clean and safe environment and to
receive the care you need from qualified doctors and other health care
providers. You have the right to make an appointment when you need one.
•
You have the right to
have questions answered and problems handled
quickly.
Most health insurance plans have a customer service department (also
called member services) to answer questions and resolve problems. If you have questions about your coverage or your health plan's procedures, you
have the right to prompt and courteous answers. If a treatment you are seeking has been denied, you have the right to appeal that decision.
Know Your Responsibilities
Along
with your rights, there are certain responsibilities you need to assume:
•
You have the responsibility to know your health insurance plan.
Your main responsibility is to understand what is – and is not –
covered by your
health plan, as well as how the plan operates. Your Evidence of Coverage (EOC) describes your benefits in detail. If there are parts you
do not understand, call your health plan's customer service department
and ask for an
explanation.
•
You have the
responsibility to take an active role in your health care.
Taking an active role in your health care means providing the correct
information and medical histories to your physician/s, as well as keeping
good records.
It can also mean that certain lifestyle choices might affect your health. Try to understand as much as you can about the state of your
health. When
you have questions, ask your doctor. There are no "dumb" questions when it comes to your health.
•
You have the responsibility to communicate to your doctor.
You have the responsibility to clearly communicate your decisions to your
doctor. If you choose
not to follow a recommended treatment plan, it is your responsibility
to let your medical doctor, chiropractor, or other health care provider
know. If you don't fully understand the benefits or cost of a recommended treatment, it's your responsibility to say so.
•
You have the responsibility to keep your end of the bargain.
Common courtesy is part of keeping your commitment. This includes
consideration for your doctor and fellow patients; keeping scheduled appointments; making timely payments; and finally, following the
course of treatment you and your doctor have agreed upon.
Information source:
http://www.hrh.org– Health Rights
Hotline – providing
free assistance and information about consumers’ rights in health care.
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Copyright©
2001 by Computer Information Exchange. All rights reserved.
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For Maximum Wellness
"We need to understand
that maximizing health care is not the same as maximizing health. We need more
research on what besides health care, makes a nation healthy."
Information source: Lamm, R, former Colorado Governor.
“Good
Health Is More than Medicine.” Chronicle of Higher Education, Sept. 22,
2000.
What
is wellness?
Wellness
is more than the absence of illness. It is more than a static state which you
attain and then sit back. It is not something another person can "do to
you" through treatment or the application of a "guaranteed
method." Wellness is an ever-expanding experience of purposeful, enjoyable
living – an experience which you create and direct.
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Wellness is a choice – a decision you make to move toward optimal
health.
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Wellness is a way of life – a lifestyle you design in order to achieve
your highest
potential for well being.
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Wellness is a balanced channeling of energy – energy received from the
environment, transformed within you, and returned to affect the world
around you.
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Wellness is a process-a developing awareness that there is no end point,
but that
health and happiness are possible in each moment, here and now.
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Wellness is the integration of body, mind and spirit – the appreciation
that everything
you do, think, feel, and believe has an impact on your state of health.
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Wellness has five major dimensions: nutrition, physical/emotional
awareness, stress
reduction, spiritual/philosophical beliefs, and self-responsibility.
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Wellness is recognizing that the only thing that is certain in the
universe is change.
-
Wellness is the loving acceptance of
yourself.
Recognizing that humans function as a whole unit and that all parts
influence all other parts; it is, therefore, ineffective to isolate and adjust
any one aspect without considering the rest of the whole. The environment in
which one lives and works is a major influence on health factors. When the home
and workplace are wellness oriented, the best chances for the best quality of
work and finding life's joys are possible.
A successful wellness plan is a proactive model based on existential
theory. It is apparent that wellness is more than just reacting to problems. The
person who knows him/herself and understands his/her values, beliefs, and
emotional abilities, will function at a high level in life. The self-actualizing
person has a balanced, healthy life requiring much less support than s/he has to
offer.
Information
source: McClernan, James, Ed.D. “Wellness Programs.” Wellness
Institute, International at: http://www.wellnessinstituteinternational.com
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to HealthyChoice Menu
Copyright©
2001 by Computer Information Exchange. All rights reserved.
.
Good
Health @ Work and Play
Parents take heed: The weighty backpack issue is getting some hard-core
scientific attention, starting with the release of a new survey.
 Backpacks’
heavy load being weighed
Feb. ‘16 – A recent
survey found 55% of Massachusetts middle-schoolers surveyed carry backpacks
weighing more than 15% of their body weight. In March, the National Association
of State Textbook Administrators is holding a summit on textbook size and
weight, and Northeastern University currently is doing a backpack study focusing
on high-schoolers.
The American Academy of
Pediatrics recommends that kids carry no more than 10% to 20% of their weight in
a backpack. Experts are concerned about neck and back strain, spine curvature
and imbalance created when students sling packs over one shoulder.
Information source: USA Today - 02/16/2001
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HealthyChoice Menu
Copyright©
2001 by Computer Information Exchange. All rights reserved.
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To Humor Your Stress
Are you adding stress to
your life by “awfulizing” and “catastrophizing” a little too much? In
the words of Loretta LaRoche, founder of The Humor Potential, Inc., you can
"make things better by making them worse" using Exaggeration Therapy.
Exaggeration
Therapy
Most of us don't have to
practice exaggerating (since we’re already doing it) and we can easily make
things worse without much thought (it seems to happen automatically).
Here Are 10 Commonly Used
Cognitive Distortions Using Exaggeration Therapy:
1. The Blame Game: You know they took your parking space and you will
find them.
You have sent out a search party and when they are found they will be severely
punished.
2.
Mind Reading: Since you’re the Grand Pooh Bah of Knowing, you
have advance
information on bad weather, awful things people are going to do, and serious injuries that will happen to those you care about on trips they
haven't yet
taken.
3. Feel Bad about Things You Haven't Done. Keep a whip handy so you
can beat
yourself randomly!
4. Do Everything Perfectly or Not At All. Try not to make any
mistakes, be superhuman,
and don't expect anyone to make any either.
5. Be Overly Responsible: Feel overworked and taken advantage of,
never let anyone
do anything for you. Become a martyr. Make a martyr kit by putting some Velcro around your wrist and another around your head and snap them
together.
6. Multiply Everything by Forever: When things are bad, tell yourself
and others
they will always be that way. Keep a suitcase filled with old grievances so you can carry it everywhere with you.
7. Worry a Lot: Interpret everything as the end of the earth. Get up
early every morning
and worry.
8. Keep Files on Who Did What: Never forgive or forget, bring up past
events that
make you or someone else feel bad. See yourself as the curator of the Feel Bad Museum.
9. Please Everyone: Make sure everyone likes you even if it means
selling all of your possessions and having nothing yourself.
10.
Make Sure You Have No Options: Use language like “if only,” “but”
and “I wish”
to lock yourself in forever.
A final word: humor your
stress, see yourself as part of a global sitcom.
Information source: The Humor Potential, Inc.
at: http://www.lorettalaroche.com
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Copyright©
2001 by Computer Information Exchange. All rights reserved.
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