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GreenField’s
Health Matters:
December 2006
Announcements
A Holiday Gift of Health: If you are looking
for a great gift to give someone this holiday season, consider a gift of
health. You can do this by covering a friend or loved one’s initial
Annual Fee to GreenField. It is a perfect way to encourage someone to
sign up with us, or to help someone stick with those New Years
resolutions. You can also sign someone up for GreenField’s very
successful weight management course -“Transformation at GreenField
Health.” This could be the most healthful gift you can provide this
holiday season. Give us a call if you are interested. It is simple to
arrange and we’d be happy to manage the details for you.
GreenField’s Holiday Schedule: We will be
open all days during the holiday season with the exception of Monday,
December 25 in observance of the Christmas holiday and Monday, January 1 –
New Year Day. As always, a GreenField physician is available to you by
phone at all times 24/7 – just call our phone number day, night, or
weekend and you’ll be put through to the person on call by our answering
service.
Recommendations for Holiday Giving
The holiday season is a joyous and reflective time,
but it can also be filled with angst and stress. The gift-giving has
gotten out of control in many homes and the spirit of the season
frequently seems to be lost in the materialism and the images of sex and
violence that are pervasive in television, movies, music, and the
electronic games promoted for the holiday season. This year you can do
something different and create a holiday season that is a joyous and
reflective time of connection with your family and friends.
Here are our recommendations for holiday giving
developed by GreenField’s adolescent medicine specialist Dr. Paula Koeller
and Portland’s well known Parent Coach Dr. Kathy Masarie
www.kathymasarie.com
. We believe that both parents and kids would benefit from these
recommendations – the overall goal is to reduce the materialism of the
holidays, to foster positive experiences together, and to make sure that
holiday gifts don’t portray violence. These same general recommendations
are applicable to birthday giving as well.
1.
Focus on spending time together: Christmas is about spending
meaningful time with family and friends. Spending time together can be far
more valuable than material things. One family we know stopped giving
gifts altogether and simply started to take family trips over the holiday
season leaving everyone with long-lasting memories. When giving gifts,
consider those that foster positive family experiences such as games that
the family can play together. Making gifts for each other also fosters the
experience.
2. Reduce overall giving: We all know that the holidays have become
excessive, and that really doesn’t benefit our children. In the frenzy of
gift opening, our children lose the simple and grateful experience of
giving and receiving. We encourage you to find ways to reduce the number
of gifts. Instead of buying gifts for everyone for example, draw names or
rotate names of individual or families that your family will be buying for
that particular holiday. The intent is not to take the fun out of the
holidays, but in fact to reduce the excess and materialism and to replace
it with high quality experiences.
3.
Reduce the number of electronic gifts: TVs, computers, and electronic
games can isolate children and families instead of fostering meaningful
interactions between parents and their children. The brain is much better
stimulated by reading than it is by electronics. At least one gift to each
child should be a book.
4. Teach giving, moderate receiving: Give to them by giving to others
– as a family, agree that you are going to give each other a lot less, and
give time or goods to your favorite charity instead. Prepare a gift box
together filled with non-perishable grocery items with special foods
representative of the holidays.
5. Avoid violent toys and games: Violence pervades our lives and our
children are becoming increasingly numb to it. Witness the tragic number
of shootings in schools during 2006. Be a witness to your children about
non-violence and continue to reiterate that message to them in the toys
and games that you give them. Use the same reasoning for TV shows and
movies you allow them to watch.
6. Set limits gift spending: Give children $15-25 for each sibling and
parent. The parents can set their own limit on how much to spend on each
child.
You might find the book Unplug the Christmas
Machine: A Complete Guide to Putting Love and Joy Back into the Season
by Jo Robinson and Jean Coppock Staeheli useful.
If you follow the guidelines above, we think that
you’ll experience less stress and spend less money, yet have a more
fulfilling holiday experience. At the end of this season write down what
you want as traditions to keep for next year. Be patient - it may take a
few years to create the traditions you want.
Seasonal Affective Disorder
In these deep dark days of winter,
many people develop symptoms of depression that they don't experience
during other times of the year. In fact, twenty percent of Americans may
have at least a mild case of Seasonal Affective Disorder. This disorder is
thought to be due to a lack of exposure to sunlight during the winter.
Here are some tips for avoiding and treating Seasonal Affective Disorder:
Even though it is dark and often rainy
in the Pacific Northwest, don't let the weather keep you from playing,
exercising, and working outside. We know that exercise itself can help
treat mild depression so it is particularly important to keep this up
during the winter. Even if it is drizzly, it is important to get outside
and stay active.
Ultraviolet light therapy can be
effective. Light therapy is delivered by sitting in front of a specially
made light box, or by wearing a light visor on your head like a cap each
day. Generally, light therapy takes about 30 minutes each day throughout
the late fall and winter. If light therapy helps you, you can continue
using it until enough natural sunlight is available in the springtime.
Stopping light therapy too soon may allow the symptoms to return.
A vacation to the south during January
or February can also be helpful, but we find that people who have true
Seasonal Affective Disorder require more ongoing treatment than a short
vacation can provide, although a vacation is always a great idea.
Our last recommendation is to throw a
party! This advice is hardly scientifically-based, but there is no excuse
for not having fun and a party is a great way to brighten up the dark days
of winter. If you need an excuse, think Super Bowl, Groundhog Day,
Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, or make up your own.
Travel Tips
Many of you may be planning for
upcoming travels and vacations. Some will be venturing outside of the US
to places where various and sundry health risks await you. These threats
tend to be small, pesky infectious agents, and they differ depending on
which part of the world you'll be visiting. Travel health is important.
We hope you will travel to enriching and exotic locations, and we don't
want health concerns or illnesses to get in your way.
The best place online to obtain
information about travel health is the US Centers for Disease Control web
site at
www.cdc.gov/travel. This site is easy to use, and will describe the
specific bugs you may encounter at different destinations, and also
provides information on preventive strategies such as vaccinations and
prophylactic medications for things like traveler's diarrhea and malaria.
While we carry basic vaccinations such
as Hepatitis A and B, there are a number of travel clinics around town
that specialize in providing travel advice and more specialized vaccines
such as typhoid, cholera, and yellow fever which we do not carry. They are
the best locations to get those vaccinations. Please contact us if you
have any questions.
As always, we are happy to assist you
with your travel health planning. In addition, if you ever get ill when
you are traveling, please do not hesitate to call or email us at any time,
from any location so that we can be of assistance.
Screening for Lung Cancer
In our November Health Matters, we
discussed screening for cancer in males. One of the cancers discussed
was lung cancer and we stated that there was not sufficient data to
recommend routine screening for lung cancer in high risk individuals –
long-term smoking being the primary risk factor. This was accurate at
the time we wrote the November Health Matters. However, since that time
a major research study was published in the New England Journal of
Medicine presenting data from a large and well designed study on
screening for lung cancer using spiral chest CT scans.
Spiral CT scans deliver a relatively
low dose of radiation compared to routine CT scans. The article
demonstrated improved survival in high risk individuals (long term
smokers) who received regular screening with spiral CT scans. The improved
survival was due to the early identification of lung cancer leading to
treatment - mostly surgical removal - that improved survival.
There are many questions about this
that still need to be addressed. For example:
- Who should be screened
– who fits into the high-risk category for whom screening is clinically
effective and cost effective?
- Will insurers pay for
such screening, and if so, based on what criteria? At present, for most
patients this would be an out-of-pocket expense.
- When should screening
start, and how often should it occur?
These are important issues that will
be addressed in the years ahead as more data and more national consensus
emerges. In the mean time, we are happy to discuss screening in
individuals who have an extensive history of smoking. In addition, it is
always important to reiterate that the most important thing a smoker can
do to prevent lung cancer is to stop smoking. Screening smokers with
spiral CT scans is not a reason to justify continued smoking as smoking
also causes heart attacks, strokes, and emphysema in addition to lung
cancer.
General Reminders about Using Email
Please remember... when emailing us,
make sure to include your full name (first and last) so that we are sure
to know who you are. This will help us avoid delays and errors.
Please do not use email if you need a
rapid response from us - in those cases, please call us. Outside of
business hours, a GreenField physician is on call at all times to help
you.
Lastly, email is not a great way to
schedule visits – because it requires too many back-and-forth messages,
and confirmations. If you want or need to schedule a visit, the best
approach is to simply call us during business hours and we’ll get it taken
care of right away.
Help Us Help You
GreenField strives to provide you the
best care possible and that extends to the coordination of care between
our practice and others. In order for us to do our job well, it is helpful
for us to know when you see other health care professionals and to
understand their recommendations.
Please remember to give your
GreenField Health doctor's full name, address, email and telephone number
to other health care providers that you interact with and specifically ask
them to communicate with us. For example, if you are seen by a specialist,
please make sure they know that we are your primary care practice and ask
them to send their consult notes to us. It helps if you take one of our
business cards with you.
Please do not go to urgent care or the
emergency department without calling us first unless it is a clear
emergency. We are available by phone 24/7 and we can help you avoid the
majority of ER and urgent care visits and the resulting costs. A phone
call to us is a lot more efficient and cost-effective than spending your
time in an ER.
If you are seen in an emergency
department or urgent care center, we would like to know about it while you
are there. Ideally, we'd like a call from the physician who is taking care
of you while you are there, even in the middle of the night and on
weekends. We may be able to help out by providing additional information
during the visit, and it allows us to follow-up with you after such
visits.
Lastly, if you are ever admitted to
any hospital on either an emergency or elective basis, we want to know so
that we can help you as much as possible during that time. Please make
sure that someone contacts us about the hospitalization if we are not
already immediately involved in the care.
Wishing You Happy & Healthy Holidays
We’d like to close our December Health Matters with
our simple wish for you: Happiness and Health! Whether you celebrate
Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza or another holiday, we wish you all the best,
and a Happy and Healthy New Year. As always, call or email us if there is
anything at all that we can do for you.
Your GreenField Team
Amanda Clark, MA, your Health Coordinator (email)
Angie Ashburn, CMA, your Health Coordinator
(email)
Beth Davis, your Benefits Coordinator and
Biller (email)
Chuck Kilo, MD (email)
Cynthia Ferrier, MD (email)
David Shute, MD (email)
Elizabeth Hays, MD (email)
Eric Murray, MD (email)
Heidi Downey, your Consultant (email)
Jill Arena, your Clinic Administrator (email)
Joel
Swartzmiller, your IT Manager (email)
Kelly Thomas, CMA, your Health Coordinator
(email)
Lea Robinson, Administrative Assistant (email)
Lindy Thornbloom, your Health Coordinator (email)
Paula
Koeller, MD (email)
Shelly Banta, your Clinic Manager (email)
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GreenField Health System
9427 SW Barnes Road, Suite 590
Portland, OR 97225
Phone: 503.292.9560
Fax: 503.292.9510
Web: http://www.greenfieldhealth.com
questions, concerns, comments appreciated:
questions@greenfieldhealth.com
© 2003-2006 GreenField Health
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