It's Not Too Late to Make New Year's Resolutions

Just because it is already January 10th doesn't mean it is too late for New Year's Resolutions. See the link below to my Empowered Patient columnin the MPNforum for some ideas about how to make your New Year healthier.
http://mpnforum.com/michael-dec-17/

The Great American Smokeout - An Empathic Opportunity

Though any time is a good time to quit smoking,  November 15, 2012 is the 37th annual Great American Smokeout, or GASO, a day when hundreds of thousands of smokers will try to stay cigarette free.

Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of death and disease in the United States, with approximately 443,000 U.S. adults dying from smoking-related illnesses each year!

 

The good news is that stopping smoking will provide some immediate health benefits. For example, your risk for having a stroke, heart attack or other cardiovascular event are reduced dramatically as soon as you quit smoking. Moreover, the risks of developing a smoking-associated cancer or other tobacco use-related condition also diminish over time.

 

Even if you don't smoke, someone you love may be a smoker and might benefit from quitting smoking during the GASO, or as a New Year's resolution, or any time!

 

So, what does this have to do with empathy and why am I writing about the Great American Smokeout here? 

 

Well, I can't help myself. As a physician, I have seen the ravaging effects that smoking has had on my patients and those who love them. As an educator, I have spent a good part of my career trying to help caring clinicians feel more prepared and confident about assisting their patients who smoke. And as a researcher,  I know that even a small dose of clinician empathy and a little advice and support improves smoking cessation outcomes.

 

So, if you are a smoker, take this opportunity to think about quitting. If you love a smoker, tell them you care about them and want to support them in their efforts to stay healthy. If you are a clinician, ask your patients who smoke if you can help them address their smoking.

 

The good news is that many forms of effective smoking cessation treatment, including medication, counseling and support, are now readily available:

• Medications reduce symptoms of nicotine withdrawal and improve rates of quitting. Some nicotine replacement therapies (e.g., patch, gum, lozenge) are available over-the-counter while others (i.e., nicotine inhaler and spray; bupropion; varenicline) are available by prescription;
• Behavioral counseling, alone or when provided with medication, improves quit rates. Counseling is provided in individual and group formats and also via free state-supported telephone quit lines; and
• Online quit programs and mobile aps also show great promise.

For quitting resources and more on the Great American Smokeout, go to the American Cancer Society page at: http://www.cancer.org/healthy/stayawayfromtobacco/greatamericansmokeout/index

For a wonderful Youtube video by Dr. Mike Evans on how to quit smoking see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0zvG2vSjrA&feature=share&list=PL9FF73EC555CB6855

And for addition quitting resources see the National Cancer Institute site at: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/tobacco/smoking

Health Coaching: A Road to Empowerment

See my latest The Empowered Patient column in the October 15th issue of MPNforum. MPNforum October 15, 2012 - The Empowered Patient.

In the column, I share my personal experience with health coaching as well as my reflections about the qualities to look for in a coach. In sum, "Great coaches empower us by helping us to build the self-monitoring, self-assessment and problem-solving skills that we need to achieve long term success."

The Empowered Patient: Hearing is Empowering

My column in the June, 2012 issue of MPNforum, The Empowered Patient: Hearing is Empowering, (http://mpnforum.com/michael-june/ ) is about my long journey to improved hearing. Why did it take me so long to order hearing aids? I hope my story will lower the barriers to obtaining hearing aids among the millions who suffer from age related hearing loss.

Top 10 Ways to Be More Empowered: New Post in MPNForum, April, 2012

My latest column in the April, 2012 issue of MPN Forum lists my top 10 strategies for empowerment. As I approach 60, I plan to employ these strategies to help me to stay well and manage my health conditions. I hope you will find them useful as well.

See Top 10 Ways to Be More Empowered

Motivating Yourself: A New Empowered Patient Column in the March MPN Forum

My latest post in The Empowered Patient column in the March, 2012 issue of MPN Forum features a strategy to help you break through the ambivalence that often keeps people for making important life changes.

So, if you are considering change, but have been unable to take action, it may be useful to ask yourself a series of questions that spur you to reflect upon about the value, importance and meaning of making the change. See below for some questions to help you to motivate yourself to take action. Reflect on  your answers and consider writing down your responses to the 3 questions that have the most meaning to you.

See the MPN Forum column (http://mpnforum.com/the-empowered-patient-march/ ) for more guidance about how to use these quesions to help move yourself towards action.

Questions for Motivating Yourself 

• What do I want to change?
• What reasons do I have for changing? (focus on your reasons, rather than somebody else's reasons)
• What is the most important reason for changing?
• What makes it so important?
• If I were able to change, what benefits would I experience?
• What is the most important benefit?
• Who else might benefit from my change?
• How would people who care about me feel about my change? (picture the scene)
• How would I feel about myself if I was able to change? (try to imagine actually experiencing the feeling)
• What small steps can I take to get started on the road to change? (consider the really really small steps that you know you to successfully take)
• Who can help me get started?
• How can I bring my talents and skills and experience to the change process?