| Wellness: The Art of Staying in Balance Protocols & Resources for Health Spectrum Family Medicine's approach to health and wellness |
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| Physical Activity Nutrition Substances (in moderation) |
| Mental activity Sleep Social life/relationships |
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| Resilience |
| The World Health Organization in 1948 defined health as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." This definition, underlies our whole-person approach to health and wellness. Most illness that we see in our practice is due to lack of balance among the key areas of life. Many people spend a long time seeking life balance, without thinking about what, exactly, that they need to balance. Active, physical aspects of life--what we take into our bodies, and what we burn up--need to be balanced with passive aspects--sleeping, thinking, socializing. The active elements also need to be in balance with each other, and similarly with the passive elements. Resilience--the ability to bounce back from things that throw off our balance (extra weights or challenges on either side)--is the fulcrum that helps us keep the active & passive parts of life balanced from day to day. Resilience is something that we can learn, although we all have some inborn resilience to help us cope with stress. |
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| Spiritual |
| Emotional |
| Social |
| Physical |
| Intellectual |
| YOU! |
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| The Pentagon: a second way to think of wellness. The acronym "SPIES" defines the important parts: Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, Social. You are at the center! Spirituality is what gives your life meaning: your core values, ideals, beliefs, ethics or guiding principles. Your spirit drives the rest of your existence. Your physical & intellectual abilities--body and mind--are the "feet" that carry out your spiritual goals. Strength in body comes through nutrition, activity, exercise, and sleep. Strength of mind is acquired by learning from books and people, challenging mental exercise, and thinking up solutions to life challenges. Without strength in these 3 core areas--spirit, body and mind--you cannot easily coordinate the "arms" of your existence, the emotional and social expressions of your inner self. Balance in emotions, and a balanced and varied social life, helps you reach out to others and keeps you from becoming too self-centered. |
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| Emotional Balance-Resilience |
| Intellect-Mental stimulation |
| Physical Activity & exercise |
| Balanced nutrition |
| Substances/medicines-moderation |
| Relationships and intimacy |
| Sleep, meditation, reflection |
| Seven steps to wellness |
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| At Spectrum Family Medicine, we take a comprehensive approach to health care. We work with patients to help them identify strengths and weaknesses, and then we encourage steps toward greater wellness. We use resources in our practice and in the community to meet needs for education and support. This "partnership" approach means that patients do some homework for a wellness consultation. A "wellness visit" is not something we do TO you--it is something we work on together. 1. Read "adult health screening" or "child health screening" information for your (or your's) age. This will let you know what screenings, exams, advice, and vaccines are recommended. Some interventions are recommended for everyone; others are only for people at risk of a specific illness. 2. Make an appointment for a wellness visit. You can do this through our ECW portal, or by calling 630-305-3025. When you contact us, also leave a message for the nurse to order labs, and tell her whether you want these drawn at our Naperville site or at a Quest location before your appointment. If you are an established patient, please update insurance information and fill out the "pre-visit" questionnaire at the Portal. If you are a new patient, you may fill out the demographic profile (personal data and insurance info), surgery, allergy and medical history questionnaires at the ECW portal. (Answer "yes" to things you've had--skip the "no's"-- and enter names of diseases for family history, not names of relatives). If you are a new patient or don't want to click buttons, you can fill out new patient registration and history forms in pen after printing them from synspectrum.com. 3. For adult wellness: visit howsyourhealth.com to complete the survey of your health & habits. Enter the code "sfm123" to link your answers to our practice, and you can use your account number or your name and birth year as an identifier. For well child exams: come 10 minutes early to complete a pre-visit questionnaire. Howsyourhealth.com is an added option for children 9 to 18. Children under 13 may need help, but can complete many questions on their own. At the end of the survey, ask for results to be emailed to us, and print out the summary to bring with you to the visit. 4. After your visit, read child health info we give you, Adult Health Tips or Teen Health Tips. Keep follow-up appointments. We can handle some things online, but there is no substitute for face-to-face discussions. Read below for ways to think about health and wellness, and resources to keep you well. |
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| Balancing PIES: Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, Social Aspects of Life |
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| A third way to look at wellness: 7 steps to stay well in body, mind & spirit! Plus resources for wellness |
| One way to look at wellness: the "balance" approach |