Bill creates student loan program to increase geriatric workforce
Written by Editor
Wednesday, 02 April 2008
SACRAMENTO — Health professionals and social workers who commit to serving California’s growing elder population could receive help in paying off their student loans under a bill by Assemblywoman Patty Berg that was approved by a key Assembly committee on Tuesday.
Assembly Bill 2543 would provide assistance to physicians, registered nurses, social workers, and marriage and family therapists who commit to a minimum of three years of service to geriatric patients and clients. The program would not add pressure to the state’s beleaguered general fund, because it relies on fees paid by practitioners during the licensing process.
“We have a shortage of professionals working in geriatric settings,” said Berg, D-Eureka. “As Baby Boomers move into old age, that shortage will reach crisis proportions unless we start making changes now.”
California only has 890 board-certified geriatricians, which accounts for one geriatrician for every 4,000 Californians over the age of 65. That imbalance is expected to become increasingly worse in coming years. Similar shortages of trained experts exist among nurses, social workers and therapists.
“The goal here is to entice our college students to go into these fields,” Berg said. “A program that covers their incurred educational debt is a big step in the right direction.”
The office of Statewide Health Planning and Development will administer the loan program. The bill was approved by the Assembly Business and Professions Committee on Tuesday. It now goes to Assembly Health Committee.
Wellness Conference features nationally renowned health pioneer
Written by Editor
Friday, 28 March 2008
Dr. Joan Borysenko is a pioneer in exploring the effect of meaning and emotions on physical health. Courtesy photo.
LAKE COUNTY – Sutter Lakeside Hospital and Center for Health are presenting a one-day wellness conference, Discovering Your Keys to Inspired Living, Saturday, April 26.
The conference will feature a talk by nationally renowned speaker, author, and television and radio personality Joan Borysenko, Ph.D.
Dr. Borysenko was one of the first to explore the effect of meaning and emotions on physical health. She will present research regarding the mind/body connection, from immunology to neuroscience, and offer practical methods to maximize the positive influence of attitude and behavior on health.
Providing a rational perspective, Dr. Borysenko will discuss how health behaviors, environment and genetics combine to determine an individual’s level of wellness that both enlightens and provides hopefulness.
The conference will also offer educational workshops, hands-on activities, and informational booths that are designed to promote health and well-being. A list of workshops and their descriptions can be found below.
Cost for the conference is $35 per person, or $60 for attendees and a friend, and includes lunch and a free gift. Nursing Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are available to appropriate licensed professionals.
Discovering Your Keys to Inspired Living will be held on April 26, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Sutter Lakeside Wellness Center, 5176 Hill Road East in Lakeport.
For registration and more information call the Wellness Center at 707-262-5171.
Morning and afternoon workshops and facilitators:
Healthy Aging Brain: Live, Love, and Learn for a Lifetime – Gail Dyne, MFT: Learn to use all your senses and the power of visualization to stimulate meaningful memory.
Learning to Trust: Healing Inside Out – Leslie Lovejoy, RN, Ph.D.: Learn how to access and trust your inner wisdom and inherent self-healing ability.
The Chakra Journey – Mary Oom, CHT: Learn how to energize the body, clear the mind, and uplift the emotions through opening and clearing the chakras.
Relax, Breathe, Connect! – Arch Kottler: Learn practical tools to achieve a more centered, relaxed state of being, anytime, anywhere and under any circumstances.
Working with the Four Agreements – Norb Yates: Learn the relationship between our point of view and our experience of physical tension.
Creating Financial Prosperity – Jennifer Strong, CFP: Learn practical approaches to creating a solid foundation for financial prosperity.
Mission Finding – Kelly Mather, MHA: Learn the 18 different types of true work and check to see if you are fulfilling your life mission by aligning your talents with your work.
Self Healing with Yoga and Ayurveda – Rama Deva: Using Ayurvedic principles, learn about your current constitution and strategies to bring inner balance through lifestyle, diet and yoga.
Living Without Fear – Matthew McQuaid, DPM: Learn four fearless principles that could change your life forever.
Inspired Living: Minding the Heart – Judith Lukomski: Embark on an exploration of your heart’s desire and learn proven practical techniques to unlock the wisdom within and live you life with trust and joy.
Yoga and Sacred Sounds – Rama Deva: Learn how to use sound to achieve and deepen a state of inner peace and well-being.
How Meditation Heals – Leslie Lovejoy: Learn about meditation, how to meditate, and its effects on the body, mind, and spirit.
Play it safe, prevent poisonings, lock up pesticides
Written by Editor
Wednesday, 19 March 2008
Every 13 seconds, a U.S. poison control center receives a call about an unintentional poisoning.
The American Association of Poison Control Centers reports that more than 50 percent of the two million poisoning incidents each year involve children younger than six years old.
In 2006, poison centers reported more than 77,000 calls made to poison centers with concerns about potential exposure to common household pesticides (potential exposures do not necessarily represent a poisoning).
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) observes National Poison Prevention Week (March 16-22) each year to increase awareness of the danger to children of unintentional poisonings from pesticides and household products, and to encourage parents and caregivers to lock up products that could potentially harm children.
In observance of National Poison Prevention Week , EPA has launched a poison-prevention segment on Green Scene, EPA's new series of environmental videos, which can be seen on the agency's home page, www.epa.gov.
LAKE COUNTY – The Healthy Kids Are Contagious school site program of Sutter Lakeside Hospital and Center for Health invite the public Friday, March 21, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., for an evening of fun and games celebrating the release of “Ducky Love,” by Kelly Mather, author and Sutter Lakeside chief executive officer.
“Ducky Love” is Mather’s second children's book geared towards helping children understand and take charge of their health. The first, "The Five Keys to Wellness," introduced children to five basic principles for living a healthy lifestyle.
“Ducky Love” is written for younger children and focuses on the first key to wellness: self-love. Through a sweet and simple tale the main character Ducky learns, with the help of some other animal friends, that love of one’s self is the first important step towards true health and happiness.
Developed by Mather, both books and “The Five Keys to Wellness” concepts, which identify and promote five aspects of healthful living including self-love, breathing, positive choices, balance and trust, are an integral part of the Healthy Kids Are Contagious programs offered in schools throughout Lake County. These free programs bring health care professionals to classrooms to educate and inspire children about health.
“To improve health and lower health care costs in our county, we are reaching the kids,” said Mather. “The Healthy Kids Are Contagious program not only educates students about nutrition and exercise but it also addresses mental and emotional issues from our 'Five Keys to Wellness' principals, so they will be motivated to make healthier choices for a lifetime.”
The “Five Keys to Wellness” Mather refers to are self-love, breathing, positive choices, balance and trust.
The event will be held at the Marge Alakszay Center at Terrace Middle School in Lakeport.
Mather is a wife and mother of three children. She believes "healthy kids are contagious" and works with local schools and health care organizations to promote wellness.
She is on a mission put “health” back into “health care” by teaching that there are four levels of healing and using the "Five Keys to Wellness." She has written several books and teaches wellness and parenting classes across the country. For more information, visit HarmonyHealingHouse.com.
People of all ages are welcome to attend the free “Ducky Love” book release celebration and meet Ms. Mather, enjoy entertaining performances by local children, enjoy healthy snacks, play games and receive fun prizes.
For more information, please call the Sutter Lakeside Wellness Center for Health at 262-5171.
New permanent birth control treatment for women offered
Written by Editor
Saturday, 15 March 2008
KELSEYVILLE – Dr. Paula Dhanda now offers the Essure procedure for permanent birth control for women.
Over half the pregnancies in the United States are unplanned, often due to contraception failures. The Essure procedure is 99.80-percent effective based on four years of followup and is covered by most health insurance plans.
The Essure procedure offers women permanent protection against pregnancy without cutting or general anesthesia. Soft, flexible coils called micro-inserts are placed into each fallopian tube. Over the next three months tissue naturally grows into the micro-inserts forming a barrier that prevents sperm from reaching and fertilizing the egg.
A confirmation test is performed at three months to let the woman know that she can rely on Essure for permanent birth control.
“It’s easy to foresee that Essure will become the preferred method of contraception for women who have completed their families and want the security of knowing they’re protected,” said Dr. Dhanda, an expert in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery who has practiced in Lake County for almost two decades. “Best of all it can be done in about 15 minutes in our office, avoiding the anxiety and expense of going to the hospital. Women return to their normal activities the next day.”
Tens of thousands of women worldwide have chosen the Essure procedure as their method of permanent birth control (sterilization) since 1998. In a clinical study on the Essure procedure, 96 percent of patients said they would recommend the procedure to a friend.
Contact Dr. Paula Dhanda, medical director of Specialty Care and Surgery Center, at 279-8733 for more information on the Essure procedure.
