1. Keep moving
We all know that exercise is good for your health, but did you know that it is also good for your mental health? Exercise actually changes the chemical make up in your brain and balances the hormones that keep you sane. It can be hard to keep up an exercise regimen in the winter time (or to start one for that matter), but it can be done. If you enjoy your evening walk around the neighborhood, continue this tradition by driving to the closest superstore and walk for the same amount of time. If this does not work for you, walk around your house or up the stairs.  If walking isn’t your thing, get an exercise video series to work through.  If you do not have the money to invest in a series, look online to see what you can find.  This might take more effort, but it’s free!  You could also join a local gym, but don’t be surprised if it seems a little crowded in January.

2. Resist the sugar
The holidays can wreak havoc on our good intentions and normal routines. With all of the parties and cookie exchanges, we often eat a lot more goodies than we should. Now is a good time to step back and regain control over you eating habits. Not only will this benefit your waistline, it can also help you feel better. Sugar and other junk foods depress the immune system. Your body has to work hard to process these foods and the inflammation that they cause can even affect your mood. These foods can play tricks on us. At first you might even feel like they make you extremely happy.  Unfortunately, you will eventually crash mentally and sometimes physically. That afternoon soda might get you through the end of the workday, but pay attention to your energy level later on when you get home. Stabilizing your blood sugar throughout the day with good nutrition balance will pay off in the long run.

3. Supplements
Winter can be a hard time to get your daily vitamins through your diet. You should still strive to eat fruits and vegetables when you can, but be sure to take your multi-vitamin to fill in the holes. Some other supplements to think about in the winter include Vitamin D and Omega-3s. We naturally get Vitamin D through the sun, which is difficult when the sun is so far away from us from October to April. Vitamin D helps to boost the immune system which is always helpful. Omega- 3s are found in fish, flaxseeds, walnuts and eggs. Even if you eat some of these foods, you might benefit from a supplement during the winter months. Omega 3s can help decrease the inflammation in your body which can help with depression as well.

If you know that you are prone to depression in the wintertime, or just want to feel better in general, consider one or more of these tips and make your health a priority this winter. You can also make an appointment to speak with a HealthNet provider by calling a HealthNet location near you.

Post by Megan McDonald, CNM

HealthNet’s Homeless Initiative Program is proud to be part of the newly recognized Professional Blended Street Outreach (PBSO) teams representing 15 social service agencies (including three medical providers and two mental health care providers) recently co-located to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department’s Southwest District Headquarters on King Ave., near W. Michigan St. and N. Belmont Avenue. 

As part of this collaboration, outreach extends also onto the Indy Go bus system and on bicycle patrol.  This team is able to provide many different services and options to those needing services but also continue to form solid relationships with those on the street so that positive steps may be available for those who may not be ready for those at the moment.

This allows better response times for those who are experiencing mental or medical issues on the street and provides for shared information between social service agencies and police.  As a result, we are getting people access to mental health and medical services on the street and working with them significantly earlier to begin the process to get into housing and the additional medical supports they need. 

The PSBO Team supports police officers directly by diverting persons who are homeless (or not a threat) into programs that help with medication and mental/physical health issues.  Camps are areas not generally frequented by or easily accessible to police/fire/EMS support. The PSBO Team provides basic lifesaving healthcare as well as general hygiene materials for those who might not otherwise reach it. 

The PBSO Team has been able to streamline and partner with other City agencies to utilize funds that support mental health and healthcare treatment.  There have been limited efforts previously to expand access and find points of overlap, particularly where services were being provided independently of each other (such as housing, homeless prevention and intervention training, mental health and substance abuse resources, etc.).

When the PSBO Team members working, they will wear a clip-on credential which contains their photograph, name, and a logo.  The PSBO Team is made up of professionals from the following organizations.

• HealthNet Homeless Initiative Program
• Indianapolis EMS
• Adult & Child Mental Health
• Damien Center
• Indiana Department of Corrections Parole District #3
• Horizon House
• Humane Society of Indianapolis
• Eskenazi Health
• Midtown Community Mental Health
• Marion  County Probation
• The PourHouse, Inc.
• Salvation Army
• Wheeler Mission
• Tear Down the Walls Ministries
• IMPD’s Homeless Unit Officers

Watch for updates on our blog as the team gets under way!

To learn more about HealthNet’s Homeless Initiative Program, visit http://www.indyhealthnet.org/Homeless-Initiative-Program.

Kathy Hagan, 3 years smoke free

In 2003, HealthNet launched its Tobacco Cessation Program, designed to give one-on-one support for patients who want to quit smoking. The highly effective program follows the clinical practice guidelines established by the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services. More than 277 people successfully completed the program last year. Husband and wife, David and Kathy Hagan have both successfully completed our Tobacco Cessation Program and are both 3 years smoke free! Check out the story below about Kathy’s journey to becoming Smoke Free!

Discuss how you started smoking.  What age? What was the appeal?  Did you think of possible consequences?
I started smoking around age 14 with friends.  At age 14 you think everything looks cool.  I did not think of health consequences at that age, I only wanted to fit in.

Discuss your past attempts (if any) to quit smoking.  Why do you think they weren’t successful?
I tried several times to quit, none of them worked because I was not doing it for me.  I was not ready to quit.

What motivated you to quit for good?  How long have you been smoke-free?
Being a grandmother motivated me.  I have four beautiful grandsons who are my world.  The oldest is six and told me my hair smelled like his dad’s ashtray.  This October 10^th will be 3 years smoke-free.

Discuss how HealthNet’s Tobacco Cessation Program helped in your journey to quit for good.
 This program offered me motivation, support, tips, and the feeling that someone else believed that I could do it.

What has been most rewarding to you about quitting?
Overall health issues are improving.  I have Barretts esophagus that used to cover my entire esophagus.  However, now 3 years smoke-free, my last biopsy showed only one very small spot. This program was the best thing that ever happened to me.

HealthNet’s Smoking Cessation Program provides nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), which helps reduce patients’ withdrawal symptoms and cravings. Unfortunately, the cost can be a real barrier, particularly for patients without insurance. In the past, we’ve partnered with the Marion County Public Health Department to provide these patients with NRT at no cost to them. In 2013, we supplied these patients with 155 boxes of patches and 60 boxes of gum, totaling $3,500. This year, the Health Department was forced to end this support, due to funding cuts. We are currently looking for other community partners who might be able to assist with this $3,500 need.

If you’d like to support HealthNet’s Smoking Cessation Program, you can make a tax deductible donation here. 

Terry Jo Curtis, IBCLC passed away on May 11, 2014. Terry Jo was a lifetime member and was a Deaconess at Caldwell Chapel AME Zion Church. She founded the Indiana Black Breastfeeding Coalition and her proudest moments and achievement were becoming an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. She loved to support her community. Terry Jo is survived by her mother, Bettye Keller; daughters, Paris M. Curtis, Kai Taylor (Dereck); brothers, Norman L. Keller, James Jewel, Sr. (Cynthia); sisters, Elois Guyse, Roslyn Guyse and 4 grandchildren.

Terry was a huge supporter of HealthNet and held the mission close to her heart. Regardless of where Terry was working throughout the system, she always made sure she could continue to teach breastfeeding classes to HealthNet patients.

Terry will be greatly missed.

Post by Ken Burger

What strikes me as I think about my experience working in a partnership arrangement, like the Indianapolis ICF and HealthNet have entered into, is the increased pool of energy that is almost immediately created. From the moment I got wind of a possible partnership opportunity I felt energy from just the idea of it.

This phenomenon, having caught my attention, makes me curious about why it is producing energy for me.

One thought comes to mind. Isn’t it intrinsically satisfying to just be helpful or to be helped? Its kind of what we say to someone when we partner up, “We can help each other.” Even a heartfelt gesture of simply shaking hands in agreement can muster increased energy.

Thinking of the equation, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts” and the idea of symbiosis also reinforces the idea that increased energy is an understandable result of a partnership. 

When someone responds to you in a way that says, “I trust you enough to work with you” isn’t that another shot of energy?  And there is the idea of providing a service to one another, of giving that energizes. Having an outlet for your energy to plug into, to be of value to someone, to know that a little bit of help means a lot and goes a long way; all these are very energizing.

Entering into a partnership should provide an avenue to bring value, to do that thing that you do, to let people know you’re out there.  A list of benefits for both parties would be extensive and eye-opening.

I certainly have a deeper sense of awareness and appreciation for the many positives resulting from a good partnership. That could go on the list.  As for me, it’s definitely been about the energy.

I became a coach in 2007.  Prior to that time I had served in a number of senior leadership roles over a 30 year business career.  I became a coach to help individuals and groups of people find greater performance in their business lives and greater satisfaction in their personal lives.

That ‘connection’ with those that I coach is a sacred space.  I am often afforded a look into a person’s most vulnerable self.  In that moment I must be able to respond with gentleness and respect.  Often, that ‘look’ inside provides the clue(s) as how to best guide them to personal discovery that enables them to unlock one or more keys to substantial growth.

HealthNet is a place of many sacred places and spaces as professionals work to deliver physical and behavioral care…many times to those who can least afford it.  They change lives through education, the quality of their interaction and influence with the patients, and the physical and emotional healing they are able to provide.

Coaching and those that work at HealthNet are in the business of helping people become more of who they were created to be.  We both use our training and our gifts to reach people and help people get from where they are to a better place.

I appreciate the opportunity to serve HealthNet in my capacity on the Board, and as a coach contributing to the advancement of the HealthNet Leadership Academy.  This has been a great experience!

HealthNet is cultivating leaders and you could be next!  In April, HealthNet’s Senior Leadership Team formed the HealthNet Leadership Academy.  The Academy is comprised of professional coaches who have enjoyed success in business and now have a passion to identify and cultivate leadership within the HealthNet organization.  Imagine my surprise when I was given the opportunity to take part in the HealthNet Leadership Academy and have my skill set evaluated by those who have a proven track record of success in business and leadership.

During the first meeting we were introduced to nine “Coaches” who presented us with brief biographies of themselves.  Subsequently, we were instructed to select one Coach from the group who would provide three leadership sessions with us individually.

After two sessions with my coach, Jim Struck, I am convinced that this has been one of the most empowering opportunities that I have ever been presented.

Together, my Coach and I have quickly identified areas of improvement that are attainable and realistic.  I am excited not only for myself but for others like me who will benefit from the expertise of these professionals.

There is an old proverb that says; Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and he will feed himself for a lifetime.  I know that the Healthnet Leadership Academy has been a benefit for me.  I wonder “Who’s next?”

Post by Lynn Zettler

When I left a successful 20-year career to start a coaching business, I wondered how I could help others to continuously grow, expand and stretch to be the masters of their career, business and life.

When our local ICF Chapter set out to partner with a local nonprofit to give back to our community through coaching, in recognition of International Coaches Week, I wondered how we would be able to pull it all together, match coaches with clients effectively and measure success.

Now, having helped dozens of companies through my coaching business, and partnering with the nonprofit health services provider HealthNet for International Coaches Week, I’m continuously reassured that good people come together to do great things.

I am highly impressed with the executive leadership of HealthNet and their commitment to the professional development of their leaders, and their openness and excitement about bringing coaching into the organization.  Having been matched as a coach for one of their leaders for three sessions has also shown me the high caliber and standards of their leaders, and their openness to embrace even higher aspirations for themselves.

My main reason for enrolling in the nonprofit coaching project was to be a part of something that was contributing to our community in a positive way, while also teaching and raising awareness around what professional coaching is, and that coaching is alive, well and growing in the Indianapolis area. I’m excited to be a part of the industry, a part of the International Coach Federation, the local ICF Chapter and this incredible opportunity to contribute in some way to the mission of HealthNet by helping their leaders achieve even more!

In April HealthNet, Inc. began piloting a new staff development program for its up-and-coming leaders, thanks to the help of volunteers from the Greater Indianapolis Chapter of the International Coach Federation (ICF). The six-week initiative pairs emerging leaders with a personal career coach for one-on-one leadership coaching.  The coaches and participants will celebrate lessons learned at a reception on May 20, 2014, during International Coaching Week (May 19-25, 2014). Throughout the week we’ll be posting blogs from HealthNet staff as well as coaches taking part in this new staff development program.

Check out our first blog from HealthNet staff member, Stacey Bedwell, RN.

“I have had the privilege of working for HealthNet for the past 4 ½ years.  When I joined the HealthNet organization, I had little knowledge of the mission of HealthNet.  In the past 4 years, I have grown to love not only the patients that we serve, but also the staff who come to work every day and share the same mission that I do.  I feel very fortunate to be a part of this great place.  After working in direct patient care for the first 15 years of my nursing career, HealthNet has taken me into a totally different direction professionally, the direction of leadership.

When I was approached to be part of the Leadership Academy, I was a little anxious.  I assumed that being asked to participate in this meant that I had some shortcomings that my leader saw in me.  However, once I understood the purpose behind professional coaching, I became excited at the possibility of growing myself professionally.  I am very grateful that HealthNet sees the value of this, and I am also flattered that I was chosen as one of the few to participate.  I chose my coach and have had the opportunity to meet with her. She has been very helpful in asking me pointed questions regarding where I see myself professionally in the next 5 years, and how I achieve those goals.  Already, I am seeing a key area that I can grow in, and I look forward to meeting with her again.

The main thing that I have learned is that you should always have a “next” goal.

When you work to achieve something, and you achieve it, you should then have a new goal that you work to achieve.  Being a  part of the Leadership Academy is helping to ensure that I never stop growing.

Did you know that May is Asthma Awareness Month? HealthNet’s Pulmonary Disease Management Educator, Dan Wilson, helps patients make treatment plans to deal with their Asthma so they can live a normal life.

A few Asthma Factoids according to the Marion County Public Health Department:

• 9.5% of Indiana children age 0-10, and 11.8% of 11-17 year olds currently have asthma.
• Nearly 12% of adults living in Marion County have asthma.
• Asthma incidence has been increasing in the U.S. at more than 4% per year since the 1980’s.
• A family history of asthma or allergy increases asthma risk in childhood by 90%.
• Boys are at greater risk of asthma than girls.
• Maternal pre-natal smoking and a child’s exposure to environmental tobacco smoke are risk factors for asthma incidence in children.

What is Asthma?

Asthma is a disease of the airway passages in the lungs. The airway passages become swollen and the muscles on the outside of the airways get tight and this makes it difficult to breathe. Common symptoms include coughing with mucus, wheezing, chest tightness and shortness of breath. Someone with asthma may have “flare-ups” caused by triggers such as tobacco smoke, allergies or catching a cold. Asthma typically develops in early childhood however asthma can develop later in life too.

Are There Different Types and Levels of Asthma?

Yes, the most common type of asthma is Allergic Asthma. Someone who is allergic to furry pets or has seasonal allergies can have asthma symptoms when exposed to these things. Another type of asthma is Non-Allergic Asthma. This type of asthma is caused by inhaling irritants such as chemicals, fumes, or combustion of biofuels like wood or coal.

The mildest level of asthma is Intermittent Asthma which only appears occasionally. Then there are three persistent levels of asthma; Mild, Moderate, and Severe. These levels are more serious and require daily medication to control symptoms.

Is There a Cure For Asthma?

No, but asthma can be treated and controlled effectively by following a treatment plan using prescribed inhaled medications daily as directed by your health care provider.

Is Asthma Contagious?

No. Asthma is passed on through genes like if your parents or grandparents had asthma. However research also shows people can develop asthma if they live in an area of high air pollution, or work or live in an environment with poor air quality.  Mothers who smoke tobacco during pregnancy are more likely to have children who develop asthma.

Can Someone With Asthma Have a Normal and Active Life?

Yes. Many professional athletes have asthma and perform at a high level because they take asthma seriously and follow the recommendations of their health care provider. Talk with your health care provider about your asthma. Together you and your provider can design a treatment plan that can control your asthma from being a problem.

Need help dealing with your Asthma? Call a HealthNet location near you or visit www.indyhealthnet.org!