Monday, July 1, 2024

Co-creating Healthier Communities: An Integrative Approach

July presents a unique blend of learning opportunities and community engagement. Initiatives of a 50 jumping jacks contest or performing kind acts may foster a sense of camaraderie and personal achievement. Engaging in outdoor activities connects us with nature, while setting SMART goals with healthy eating may lead to healthy lifestyle changes. Evaluating my wellness tracker may help maintain focus on these goals. Webinars with Twitter/X discussions offer platforms for sharing insights on acceptance and resilience, especially relevant during the festive occasion of July 4th. These experiences, when shared with family and peers with email may support communal bonds. Moreover, integrating music with email communications into community spaces may enhance the sense of belonging and collective joy during the summer season.


Health is a state of integrative physical, mental, and social well-being. This definition with the World Health Organization underscores the multifaceted nature of health and encompasses a variety of factors including lifestyle, environment, and community support. In recognition of  #MinorityMentalHealthAwarenessMonth, I learn the importance of #communityhealth, especially among minority populations who often face significant disparities in access to healthcare services.


#Communityhealth has been magnified in recent years, particularly in light of the global pandemic and its impact on mental health. The co-creation of #communityhealth initiatives is a powerful approach to learning awareness and making efforts to solve these challenges with encouraging collaboration between individuals, communities, healthcare providers, and organizations to develop solutions culturally sensitive, accessible, and sustainable. Resources such as the MHE-Co-Creation-Toolkit and interactive physical health check tools are valuable assets in this endeavor, providing guidance and practical steps for communities to empower themselves and improve overall well-being.


One of the key aspects of co-creating healthier communities is the emphasis on preventative measures and education. For instance, the "Summer Slide" phenomenon with concerns for losses in learning, physical activity, nutrition, and sleep, may be mitigated with setting summer health goals for families. Encouraging physical activity, healthy eating, and emotional well-being [information available at Public Health Media Library (cdc.gov)] are important components of an integrative approach to health.


Co-creating healthier communities requires a concerted effort from all stakeholders with building resilience, promoting inclusivity, and promoting health equity. As we observe #MinorityMentalHealthAwarenessMonth, let us commit to empowering communities, supporting mental health, and creating a future where health is accessible and equitable for all.


Creating and Tracking SMART Goals: A Step-by-Step Guide


Setting goals is a fundamental component to long-term success. The logic is if you know where you want to go, understanding how to get there becomes much easier. 


**Specific**: The goal needs to be clear and specific to focus your efforts and feel motivated to achieve. Ask yourself: What do I want to accomplish? Why is this goal important? Who is involved? Where is the learning opportunity located? How are resources or limits involved?


**Measurable**: Measurable goals are a way to track your progress and stay motivated. Evaluating progress helps you to stay focused, meet your time frame, and feel the excitement of getting closer to achieving your goal.


**Achievable**: Your goal also needs to be realistic and attainable to be successful. In other words, it needs to stretch your abilities and remain possible. Ask yourself: How may I accomplish this goal? How realistic is the goal, based on other constraints, such as financial factors?


**Relevant**: This step is about ensuring your goal matters to you, and also aligns with other relevant goals. We all need support and assistance in achieving our goals and retain control over them with taking responsibility for achieving your own goal.


**Time-bound**: Every goal needs a timeframe to focus on and to work toward. This part of the SMART goal criteria helps to prevent everyday tasks from taking priority over your longer-term goals.


Here is one way to apply the SMART criteria to goal setting:


1. **Write down your goals**: Articulate wants to achieve using the SMART framework. Be as clear and detailed as possible.


2. **Create a plan of action**: Outline the steps to take needed to achieve your goals. This could include smaller sub-goals or tasks that are necessary to achieve the larger goal.


3. **Set milestones**: Break your main goal into smaller, more manageable validated goals. These checkpoints may help you stay on track and measure your progress.


4. **Monitor your progress**: Regularly evaluate your goals and progress. This could be done weekly, monthly, or quarterly, depending on the nature of your goal.


5. **Adjust as necessary**: Be flexible with your goals. If you find that your goals are too ambitious or too easy, adjust them accordingly.


6. **Celebrate your successes**: Take the time to celebrate when you achieve a milestone or reach your goal. This will help keep you motivated for future goals.


Remember, goal setting is an ongoing activity. Build in reminders to keep yourself on track and make regular time available to review your goals. The action plan you set for yourself along the way may change significantly. Ensure the relevance of your goals by tweaking them regularly to reflect growth in your knowledge and experience.


Achieving Heart Health with 30-Minute Paced Walks: A Path to Lower Heart Rate


The journey to a healthier heart may begin with putting on your walking shoes and stepping out the door. Walking is one of the most accessible forms of exercise and is also effective for improving cardiovascular health. For those looking to enhance their heart health, incorporating 30-minute paced walks into their daily routine is one component to a #HealthySummer.


The benefits of a daily walk are well-documented. Research has shown that engaging in a brisk 30-minute walk may lead to a decrease in resting heart rate, lower blood pressure, and reduced levels of LDL cholesterol, often referred to as "bad" cholesterol. These improvements contribute to a stronger, more efficient heart, reducing the risk of heart disease and other cardiovascular conditions.


But how does one ensure they are walking at a pace that will yield these benefits? To track progress and ensure you are walking at a pace with benefits for your heart, I have learned how to measure and monitor my heart rate during exercise. Regular walking can improve blood circulation, aid in weight management, and enhance overall well-being. This integrative approach to health helps to focus on the physical aspect and mental health benefits, such as stress reduction and improved mood. 


30-minute paced walks are a simple yet powerful exercise for achieving heart health. With engaging in this activity, you may work towards lowering your heart rate and strengthening your heart muscle and experience the benefits of walking for a healthier heart with the support of healthy eating, hydration and full rest and reaching out to create social connections to support #communityhealth with evaluation of whole health and healing PTSD symptoms with available resources with tracking positive thank you's and safe healthy learnings with Student Family Community Agenda Lesson plan.


81 with pulse rate before exercise, 81/81/74 after 3 30 minutes paced walks, 78/85/82/82 with Heart Rate Monitor - Pulse App - Apps on Google Play, 80/85/75/76 with Blood Pressure App: BP Monitor - Apps on Google Play. 7/1/2024

73 with pulse rate before exercise, 73/68 after 2 30 minutes paced walk,76/75/80 with  Heart Rate Monitor - Pulse App - Apps on Google Play, 62/74/70 with Blood Pressure App: BP Monitor - Apps on Google Play. 7/3/2024 


Resources

Thriving Together: Empowering Healthier Communities: Search results for co-create (thrivingtogethercommunityhealth.blogspot.com)

Thursday, June 27, 2024

#MoveWithTheMayor

"Move with the Mayor" is a national initiative to encourage mayors and communities to engage in physical activity to enhance cardiovascular health and mental well-being. This movement fosters social connections and community resilience, aiming to improve overall health equity.

Challenge of Love June 29, 2024

Challenge of 28 June
Mathematics of 28 with yin yang
Co-creates #communityhealth
With redemption of 28


The Rhythmic Heartbeat of Community: Dance as a Pathway to Health

Dancing, an expression of art and emotion, has long been a unifying force among communities to celebrate life, a communal heartbeat to echo with joys and heal sorrows of participants. The #CommunityDanceForHealth movement encapsulates this spirit, bringing people together to groove to the rhythm of well-being.

**The Healing Power of Dance**

Dance is a learning opportunity to tone the body and elevate the mind. Free-flowing dance allows individuals to express themselves for emotional liberation and stress relief. More complex choreography, especially when synchronized with others, may enhance cognitive function, improve memory, and foster social bonds. Intricate steps and coordination may be a mental and physical workout.

Research has shown dance may be a powerful tool for healing to alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety, increase quality of life, and bolster interpersonal skills. The rhythmic movements and music stimulate the release of endorphins, the body's natural mood lifters, promoting a sense of peace and happiness.

**Building Community Through Dance**

When people dance together, they share a moment of synchronicity to foster a sense of belonging. The #CommunityDanceForHealth initiative encourages this connection, inviting people to come together and share in the joy of movement.

A playlist of 20 songs about community may serve as a soundtrack for this movement. These songs, each with their own story and rhythm, may inspire dancers to find common ground in the beat, to move as one in a celebration of togetherness.


The #CommunityDanceForHealth movement is a testament to the power of dance to heal, connect, and invigorate communities and a reminder how in every step, twist, and turn is a chance for transformation, both personal and collective. Let us step into a world where health and happiness move to the same beat. Let us dance our way to a better tomorrow. 

7/9/2024 68 pulse rate after #CommunityDanceForHealth exercise, 68/66 after 2 30 minutes paced walk, 75/69/67 with Heart Rate Monitor - Pulse App - Apps on Google Play, 69/66/66 with Blood Pressure App: BP Monitor - Apps on Google Play.




Resources

Change with Love: A Guide to Compassionate Leadership

Change is an inevitable part of life and leadership and may be daunting, challenging, and sometimes even frightening. Yet change is an opportunity for growth, innovation, and new beginnings. One key to leading through change is in the strategies we employ with the mindset we adopt and the values we uphold. With my focus on letting Love lead the way, Transitions as our Teacher: How to Lead Through Change event helped me learn about the challenges of change with love.

https://padlet.com/lovethoughtful/lesson-plan-challenge-of-love-3ife6evw2fjtqz7

Understanding PTSD and Support: An Integrative Guide

One of the key components of PTSD Awareness Month is PTSD Screening Day. This day encourages individuals to take a proactive step in evaluating their mental health through a PTSD Self-Screen, a tool designed to identify symptoms and get support with professional attention. The screening is easily accessible online, providing a private and immediate way for individuals to check in on their mental well-being.

For those seeking emotional support, resources are readily available. The 988 Lifeline, hosted with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), offers free, confidential prevention and crisis resources. This service is valuable for individuals or loved ones in need of support, providing best practices for US professionals and anyone looking for guidance.

The #SeasonOfSelfCare campaign complements these efforts by encouraging individuals to stop and listen to their needs, fostering an environment of self-care and understanding. The campaign highlights the importance of recognizing warning signs of a developing crisis, employing coping strategies, and seeking social support.

The #BeThe1To initiative outlines five action steps anyone can take to help someone in crisis:
1. Ask about their well-being in a non-judgmental way.
2. Be there for them, offering compassion and empathy.
3. Help keep them safe by discussing and removing potential risks.
4. Help them connect with support services with the 988 Lifeline.
5. Follow up with them to check in on their progress and well-being.

These steps are part of a broader set of best practices to emphasize the importance of measuring engagement through the number of calls, minutes, and follow-up interactions. Discussing coping strategies, offering emotional support, and exploring reasons for living are all crucial aspects of the support process.

For professionals and individuals, understanding triggers to suicidality, warning signs, and past survival skills may make a significant difference. Active listening, acknowledging feelings, and providing paraphrased feedback skills may be enhanced with SAMHSA resources.

PTSD Awareness Month serves as a reminder of the ongoing need for education, support, and resources for those dealing with PTSD. With utilizing the PTSD Self-Screen, engaging with the 988 Lifeline support network with #BeThe1To, we may create a more understanding and supportive society for all individuals facing mental health challenges. Help is available.

List of Best Practices available at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/sltb.12339:
Important factors to measure:
number of calls
number of minutes
number of days to first and second follow-up call
number of days between crisis and follow-up call
discuss coping strategies
offer emotional support
social contacts/settings as distractors
social contacts to call for help
discuss past survival skills
discuss triggers to suicidality
discuss warning signs
explore reasons for living
discuss safe/no use of alcohol/drugs
discuss making environment safe
explore reasons for dying
explore ambivalence re life/death

Wednesday, June 19, 2024

Juneteenth and the Journey Towards Healing

Juneteenth, a significant day in American history, commemorates the end of slavery in the United States and marks the day when the last enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, were informed of their freedom on June 19, 1865, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. As we celebrate Juneteenth, let us also commit to the ongoing work of supporting mental health equity to honor the strength and resilience of every individual and support each individual with opportunities to heal, thrive, and live a life free from the burdens of racial trauma. In the spirit of Juneteenth, let us embrace the power of self-care, community, education, and equitable access to resources as we move forward together on the path to healing and well-being with PTSD Awareness Month

With the June 1, 2023 Webinar NIMH » Mental Health Equity and the Power of Self-Care (nih.gov) https://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/events/announcements/mental-health-equity-and-the-power-of-self-care, I learn how challenges of stigma, resources, cultural humility of providers and access are four of many life challenges needing solutions. With writing down specifics of a challenge, I improved finding positive solutions include improving goals and was encouraged to engage in peaceful dialogue and to feel thankful. With this NIH event, I accessed the Juneteenth 19 Days of Wellness Calendar and learn about Juneteenth activities for 2024 with @Support8CRE with #19DaysOfWellness, encouraging individuals to take actionable steps towards enhancing their wellness each day leading up to Juneteenth. I feel thankful I am able to learn and do meditation with the Juneteenth activities to improve stress reduction and awareness. I feel thankful for my business plan to improve unconditional caring with maximizing caring and minimizing money. I feel thankful for NIMH for prioritizing fair, just research to improve mental health equity to improve mental health and ideas of well-being. I affirm I let love lead the way. 


The Juneteenth activities for 2024 highlight the importance of Tai Chi. Tai Chi is a form of martial art with origins in China. The term "martial art" may refer to any system of physical training and skills used for self-defense, personal development, or health and wellness. Tai Chi is often described as a moving meditation, as the process involves gentle and graceful movements synchronized with the breath and the mind. Tai Chi may offer many benefits for physical and mental health, such as improving balance, flexibility, strength, coordination, posture, blood circulation, stress relief, relaxation, and concentration. Tai chi is part of the **Okinawa Program**, based on the lifestyle practices of the Okinawans, who are known for their longevity and vitality. The Okinawa Program is an integrative approach to health and well-being with diet, exercise, social support, and spirituality.


A quiet and spacious area with fresh air and natural light, either indoors or outdoors, may give you enough room to move freely and comfortably. For example, you can practice Tai Chi in your living room, backyard, park, or gym. Wearing loose and comfortable clothing barefoot or with flat shoes with good grip and support may allow you to breathe and move easily.


To warm up your body and mind before starting Tai Chi, some gentle stretching exercises may loosen up muscles and joints, and some breathing exercises may calm your mind and relax your nervous system. You may want to pay attention to your posture and alignment, and try to stand upright with your head, neck, spine, and pelvis in a straight line and to relax with chest, abdomen, hips, knees, and ankles, and distribute your weight evenly on both feet. For example, you may want to do some knees rolls, neck rotations, waist twists, knees bends, ankles circles, and deep breathing.

There are many styles and variations of Tai Chi, but they all share some common elements, such as the yin-yang principle, the five elements theory, the eight trigrams, the 13 postures, and the concept of qi (energy).


Here are three foundational Tai Chi movements:


1. **Opening of Tai Chi (Tai Chi Qi Shi)**

This movement is typically the starting posture and is designed to help practitioners focus their mind, gather their energy, and prepare their body for the next movement and involves a gentle raising and lowering of the hands, synchronized with controlled breathing, to harmonize the body's internal and external environments.


2. **Parting the Wild Horse's Mane (Ye Ma Fen Zong)** The name, Parting the Wild Horse's Mane, suggests a sense of power combined with gentleness and is a movement to balance strength and softness, mirroring the philosophy of Tai Chi to emphasize harmony and the flow of energy, or 'Qi'. To perform Parting the Wild Horse's Mane, one begins in a relaxed stance, focusing on proper alignment and smooth, controlled movements. The practitioner shifts their weight, raises one hand as if to gently push aside the mane of a majestic horse, while the other hand sweeps down and across, contributing to the balance and flow of the movement.


3. **Wave Hands Like Clouds (Yun Shou)**

This is a graceful movement to emphasize the flowing nature of Tai Chi. The practitioner moves their hands in a soft, cloud-like motion, shifting weight from one leg to the other in a slow, rhythmic dance. This movement promotes flexibility in the waist and arms and encourages a state of mental relaxation.


Creating a Healthy Meal for Today: A Guide to Nutritious Eating


Eating well is important to good health, and with the abundance of food options available, may be both an enjoyable and a daunting task to choose a healthy meal for today with balance, variety, and moderation. Here is a guide to creating a healthy meal to satisfy your taste buds and contribute to your overall well-being.


**Start with a Protein Source**

Protein is essential for building and repairing tissues in your body, and also helps you feel full and satisfied after a meal. Evaluate lean plant-based options such as beans, lentils, or tofu. 


**Incorporate Whole Grains**

Whole grains are packed with nutrients, including fiber, to aid digestion and help maintain a healthy weight.


**Add a Rainbow of Vegetables**

Vegetables are low in calories and high in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Aim to fill half your plate with a variety of colorful vegetables. This could be a mix of leafy greens, bell peppers, carrots, and broccoli, either steamed, roasted, or raw. 


**Include Healthy Fats**

Fats are an important part of a healthy diet with sources of unsaturated fats, such as avocados, nuts, seeds, and olive oil. 


**Fruit**

Fruit may offer additional fiber and nutrients. 


**Stay Hydrated**

Staying hydrated is important for overall health.


Connecting Juneteenth to Paced Walking for Heart Health


Juneteenth, a day to celebrate freedom and liberation, may also be a day to embrace the freedom of movement for better health. Paced walking, a simple yet effective form of exercise, aligns perfectly with the spirit of Juneteenth as a step towards personal liberation from the constraints of heart disease.


The act of walking is a physical activity and a symbolic journey. Just as Juneteenth commemorates a journey towards freedom, paced walking may be seen as a journey towards better heart health. Walking helped us to become human and walk out of the forest to see the forest for the trees with the willingness to take one first step.


Juneteenth themed walking events may serve as a catalyst for community engagement in physical activity. For example, walking parades or freedom walks are organized in various cities to celebrate Juneteenth, providing an opportunity for communities to come together in movement and evaluation. These events honor the historical significance of the day and promote a healthy lifestyle.


To connect Juneteenth to paced walking, one could participate in or organize a local walking event on this day. The event could start with a brief history of Juneteenth, followed by a group walk. This could be a time for community members to reflect on the journey of their ancestors while taking proactive steps towards their own health. Additionally, incorporating discussions or information booths on heart health during these events may educate participants on the importance of regular exercise for preventing and reducing heart disease.


Juneteenth is a historical milestone and a day to inspire positive change in our lives. With connecting the celebration of Juneteenth with paced walking, we may take meaningful strides towards improving heart health and honoring the enduring spirit of freedom and well-being. Let us walk the path of health and history together, one step at a time. My pulse rate before exercise is79, 69 after 30 minutes paced walk, 73/79 with Heart Rate Monitor - Pulse App - Apps on Google Play, 64/71 with Blood Pressure App: BP Monitor - Apps on Google Play

Tuesday, June 18, 2024

The Importance of Anti-Racism in Public Health: A Peer Learning Community Approach

Anti-Racism in Public Health Peer Learning Community Meeting (apha.org) offered a crucial opportunity for public health practitioners, community organizers, health departments, and other partners to come together and foster a collaborative environment with learning opportunities of knowledge, experiences, and strategies. Challenge of love with the challenges of antiracism 

challenge of connection

love, affection, appreciation learning how to connect here, respectful challenge of toleration, small steps learning, improve with patience giving space and

evaluating opportunities for initiating evidence-based practices and health science support
everyone harmed by unjust laws perpetuating racism
mobile Friendship Table project
with community health campaign with blog
where wanted and needed where love is leading
empathy for successful learning


The Health Links Webinar: Antiracism in the Workplace 2024 with Conferences, Meetings, Webinars, and Events | NIOSH | CDC hosted with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus offered goals for creating an antiracist workplace of focusing on initiating and encouraging conversations with solutions.

1. take experiences seriously
2. clear policies 
3. specificity of challenges in Diversity Equity Inclusion programming
4. Have conversations about challenges solutions
5. Repair world, dismantle negativity and within selves with media bias with relationships training 






The Art of Mindfulness: A Path to Well-being

With PTSD Awareness Month, I learn the importance of practicing mindfulness with https://www.ptsd.va.gov/appvid/mobile/mindfulcoach_app.asp. My goal is to practice mindfulness and evaluate benefits to improve stress, thoughts, emotions, rest, relax, concentration, focus, blood pressure, brain, immune functioning, acceptance, knowledge, awareness of body, breath and senses, compassion, loving-kindness, eating, listening, looking and walking. 

  With mindful eating, I feel improvement in stress with slowing down and thinking more carefully with the process of eating, creating a calmer feeling, and more relaxed about the challenge of eating, changing my focus to the process of eating encouraging brain connection to the process of eating, listening with taste, looking with compassion with touch at the apple and then sandwich with yellow pepper, garden greens with low fat mozzarella cheese with English muffin and then drink with milk. A beluga whale glided in the Sebastian River and surfaced then swam off toward Riverside Park and fish began to jump helped me to feel loving kindness. Birds, cardinals and doves began to comment including a pileated woodpecker. Sirens began to wail. With another mindful eating session, I feel compassion for connecting while eating and getting nutritional needs met with everyone.   

  With mindful walking, I think about lift and step of my walking in rhythmic motion. I feel a moment of rest with turning around and relax into listening to the rhythm of the walk with paced walking with Google Fit, looking to make sure my walk is safe and understanding awareness of PTSD Awareness Month and how the structure of the apps support awareness of family neighborhood connections with love for my efforts to prevent and reduce heart disease with pulse and heart rate monitoring with apps. 65 pulse rate before exercise, 78/72 with 2 30 minutes paced walks, 77/88/71 Heart Rate Monitor - Pulse App - Apps on Google Play; 78/76/72 Blood Pressure App: BP Monitor - Apps on Google Play. With second 30 minutes paced mindful walking, I focused on stepping natural and relaxed with lift and step. I felt shifts between listening with ear buds to the quiet tones to help reduce stress and the family neighborhood connections. How I healed PTSD symptoms: instead of being bothered by negative beliefs and feelings, and distant from others, I chose to apply the respect bookends with STAIR app technique with friendly respectful focus and regroup with ACT ideas for support with loving kindness for my efforts to reach out with PTSD Awareness Month to be respectful of healthy boundaries while also encouraging awareness of how to heal PTSD symptoms.

Radiant Intersection of Summer Solstice and Learning

As the Northern Hemisphere welcomes the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, we also step into the summer season, a period astrolog...

Popular Posts