“Health is the soul that animates all the enjoyments of life, which fade and are tasteless without it.” – William Temple I recently read “Wake-up Call” by Erika Lovley in Politico this week and my suspicions have been confirmed through anecdotal evidence: people working in Washington, especially those working on Capitol Hill, are extremely stressed...Continue reading
Category: Well-being
Beyond Health Care
Health reform has been a topic of great importance here in Washington for the past few months since discussions and debates have intensified in June, 2009. Health reform, however, has primarily focused on one aspect of health – health care. In the broader sense, though, health encompasses a wider reach. For example, health professionals are...
More Money, More Problems
First of all, Happy New Year! USA Today featured a comprehensive story on college football coaches and their total salaries (breakdowns of base salaries and bonuses, etc.) in early November. The highest paid coaches in 2009 lead the most prestigious football programs in the country, including Pete Carroll of Southern California, Bob Stoops of Oklahoma...Continue reading
Surviving the Holidays
It seems the holiday season starts earlier every year. Even before Thanksgiving, retailers had taken the opportunity to roll out the lights and specialty goods for a host of upcoming holidays. In some ways, this can be exciting: many people associate this time of year with favorite traditions, time with family and old friends, and...Continue reading
A Relaxing Holiday?
Thanksgiving weekend is a time for family and friends and more often than not, a time we overindulge. A mini-vacation (I left for home last Tuesday night) to relax, eat and be merry. There were definitely huge amounts of time to relax, a ton of food to eat and moments of merriment to be had. ...Continue reading
A Pavlovian Experiment
Since June I have participated in several health fairs and I consistently notice a clear trend: Men by-passing our tables like one would do with a slow car on the highway. Men would most likely ignore our table and all the valuable information we have to offer like the plague if we fail to catch...Continue reading
The Real Reason You Need a Vacation From Your Vacation is Because You Never Actually Took One
Imagine an extremely prevalent addiction that can almost guarantee a slew of health problems such as heart attacks, ulcers, strokes, insomnia, anxiety attacks, and depression. Then envision that it can in many cases lead to early death, suicide, and/or secondary addiction to drugs, alcohol, and prescription medication. Sounds awful, right? What if I told you...Continue reading
The Questions We Don’t Ask
Socioeconomic status, discrimination, housing, physical environment, food security, child development, culture, social support, health care services, transportation, working conditions, age, gender and race. What do they have in common? The factors listed above are believed to contribute, in one way or another, to our overall health status. In essence, the aforementioned factors, collectively called the...Continue reading
It takes effort…
The summer of 2009 is almost over and looking back at the past two-and-a-half months, I realize that it’s been an extremely busy one. Health reform debates and symposia at various think tanks; briefings with health policy experts on the Hill; and editorials on the public option and “death panels” scatter websites and newspapers across...Continue reading
In the Market for Better Health
If you’re not familiar with a farmer’s market in your area, you’re missing out. The freshest food is grown locally, you can get some surprisingly good deals, and there’s something special about connecting with the people who are growing the food you eat. Plus, the earlier you get to your food, the more you will...Continue reading