Following her own sage advice and life-long professional career of helping others, Terri Merritt-Worden, Vice President of Operations of the Blue Zones Project by Sharecare, celebrated the start of retirement. Upon request for advice about wisdom accumulated during her career, Terri shared her top ten suggestions for leadership, well-being and health during a final good-bye with the Blue Zones Project team. Senior Project Manager, Mandy Butters codified these recommendations, which are good for anyone from youth to old age. Terri was a big fan of David Letterman, so in his style, here is her Top 10 List:
3 min read
10 Happiness Practices a Doctor Prescribes to His Patients
Positive emotions, calm feelings, warm connections, and good thoughts all contribute to excellent health. Healthy people typically enjoy good mental attitudes. The opposite is also true—namely, sad folks have more disease and misery.
Topics: Bulletin
2 min read
New study shows positive outcomes of collective impact models in community health
Third party validation based on legitimate metrics makes accepting positive change essential for altruistic leaders. Well-being and health can be measured and statistically improved using proven principles and processes. No longer will the tyranny of the present nor learned helplessness validate persistent misery and disease.
Topics: Community Beach Cities Bulletin
2 min read
Home for the Holidays
“
Home for the Holidays” conjures up many thoughts ranging from the comforting memories, sights, tastes, and smells of reunited families at the holiday dinner table to the title of the humorous 1995 movie directed by Jodi Foster, describing the antics of a multigenerational dysfunctional family. Modern society’s stresses, now with the additional complications brought on by COVID-19 variants, make enjoying family connections even more essential for good mental health and well-being.
Topics: Bulletin
2 min read
Could app-based therapy be effective first line in decreasing anxiety?
Therapies are constantly advancing, spurred on not only by new enabling technology but also sadly by increasing need. Two weeks ago, a paper entitled “Clinical Efficacy and Psychological Mechanisms of App-Based Digital Therapeutic for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Randomized Control Trial,” was published showing for the first time that digitally delivered mindfulness can be effective for treatment of anxiety.
Topics: Bulletin
3 min read
Work with your Circadian Rhythm to Boost Effectiveness
Why are some folks more creative, charismatic, and energetic at various times of the day? Are you a morning person or a night creature? If you have a difficult problem to solve, do you try to do it first thing in the morning or hold it until the still of the night? Do you fall to sleep easily or have trouble getting out of bed in the morning?
Topics: Bulletin
2 min read
Engage in a healthy lifestyle and decrease your change of a dread disease
Cancer, a dread disease, is somewhat preventable. Healthy habits, careful vigilance, and good care including new therapeutics make a significant difference, as noted in a National Institute of Health and
National Cancer Institute report released last week.
Topics: Bulletin
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"Healthy Multipliers" can change the course of health and well-being
Aspiring to health and wellness rather than turning to sickness and healthcare is beneficial in at least two ways—avoiding both the misery and the expense of disease. A
Journal of the American Medical Association statistical analysis published last month, entitled “
Social Determinants of Health and Geographic Variation in Medicare per Beneficiary Spending,” addressed this thesis by comparing the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) with the cost per Medicare fee-for-service enrollee within 3,038 counties. About 100 counties’ populations were too small or did not have data and therefore were excluded.
Topics: Bulletin
2 min read
Personal health care and the pandemic
“
A surprising pandemic side effect: People have become more engaged with their health” is the headline of an
engaging essay, highlighting positive outcomes from people becoming self-sufficient when traditional services were in short supply.
Topics: Bulletin
2 min read
How's Life?
“How is life?” is a question raised by the Office for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to compare countries’ overall standard of living. The answer is found in the
OECD’s Better Life Index, created in 2011 and updated biennially, which compares thirty-seven developed nations’ standards of living. The current results are summarized in “How’s Life? 2020,”
2.5 minute informative video.
