Nine modifiable lifestyle factors account for over 90 percent of the risk for a heart attack in men and women around the world.
Source: the INTERHEART Study
eZine
Letter from the Founder From: Terrie Reeves September 01,2008
Wellness From Within Highlights for September 2008
• What's Your Health IQ? • Interactive Tool • Ask the Wellness Coach • Corporate Wellness Programs
Terrie Reeves Founder and President
Dear Friends of the Coalition,
We’re hearing more these days about a growing problem with “health illiteracy” in the United States and how it’s contributing to our high rates of chronic diseases and escalating healthcare costs. While it’s true that many people have difficulties understanding health issues because of a language barrier or a lack of education, it’s also true that most of us need to improve our basic health literacy skills. This includes things like being able to read and understand labels on food and medicine, to recognize symptoms and describe them, and to follow doctors’ directions.
Find this hard to believe? Then check out the Surgeon General’s Workshop on Improving Health Literacy. It outlines research that concluded only 12 percent of Americans have proficient health literacy skills. In part, that’s due to an overburdened healthcare system where medical professionals have limited time to communicate effectively with patients. But much of the responsibility is ours—to increase our understanding of what it takes to be healthy, to communicate our needs with our healthcare providers, and to follow through with managing our own care (scheduling routine screenings, taking prescriptions as directed, improving our lifestyle habits, etc.)
Click on the logo above to learn more about our partnership with News 14 Carolina to improve health literacy through our Train for Life video series.
In this edition of Wellness From Within, we’re increasing our focus on health education with the addition of videos from our new Train for Life series. You’ll find links to these videos in the upper right-hand corner of articles about ways to properly move, fuel, relax, maintain, and connect—what we call the five pillars of total body wellness. A red arrow ⇒ indicates which articles include videos.
We’re also including an online quiz so you can assess your own understanding of basic issues that relate to your health. The answers are listed at the bottom of the quiz, and you’ll find more information about each of these topics in this month’s eZine.
Interactive tool: Our Featured Tool this month shows how to calculate your “Target Heart Rate Range.”Your target heart rate is a useful way of pacing yourself when you exercise, to make sure your level of activity is not too high or too low. You also can use your target heart rate to evaluate your initial fitness level and your progress over time.
Ask the Wellness Coach: Do you have a question about ways you can MOVE, FUEL, RELAX, MAINTAIN, and CONNECT to achieve total body wellness? Just submit your question through our online form, and if it is selected, the answer will be posted on our website. You may also benefit from reading the answers to other readers’ questions.
Corporate wellness programs in great demand: The Wellness Coalition America team is delighted by the positive response to our corporate wellness programs. We are now serving more than 70 corporations throughout the Southeast and are receiving new requests for information each week from company managers who recognize the need within their own organizations. We encourage you to review some of the ways we can help you customize a program for your specific needs. For more information, please contact Shira Capellini at shira@wellnesscoalition.com.
This is the 50th edition of our Wellness From Within eZine, but if this is your first time to receive it, welcome. We hope you find this information useful. We are committed to delivering relevant, easy-to-read articles on health, nutrition, lifestyle, and exercise that will help you achieve your personal best. Please let us know how we can better serve you—we welcome your feedback!
