Show 322 - What Is A Health Coach?

Last time, I talked about coaching. How there are different types of coaches and that it is an unlicensed and unregulated practice. There are good and bad coaches, and we need to find ways to figure out who is who.

I tried to chop it down into chunks but this is a big topic. And not a lot of consumer friendly information sources. Many of the resources I found where connected to vendors wanting to either have folks sign up for their telehealth service or to take a class or course on health couching. 

The somewhat neutral sources I've listed below. 

I know this one is wordy. But honestly, I whacked it down from 22 minutes to about 14 minutes.

Probably should have knocked off another seven but you do what you can when you can.

For my overseas folks. I do not know if you have the expression "wham, bam, thank you mam."

It applies to the vending machine approach to obtaining sexual services from an in-demand vendor. 

Going to a doctor or medical office can be a long wait, then you get into the office, say your piece. The doctor takes a look, makes a decision in about two minutes and out you go.

Don't know if it is the same in the UK, India, Australia, Canada or the islands.

Which is why telemedicine is very popular. Most people would like to cut out the waiting and get to the important part of their care. 

In this episode, a look at health coaching.

If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources Mentioned: 

S.E. Cupp is a political commentator on CNN program S.E. Cupp Unfiltered. She is also a fellow traveler on the road. May 2023 is Mental Health Awareness Month. This is a short clip from her show talking about her experiences with the condition and why she wants to bring awareness about mental health out of the shadows.

Post on Very Well Health called Does Eating Fried Foods Really Put Us at Risk for Depression and Anxiety?  

Look folks, do the best you can. Eat to support your brain health. If you slip up and eat some fries; try to have a bit of fruit or veggies for your next meal. The goal is clean eating but some of us are going to get dusty along the way. 

Cleveland Clinic page on What Is A health Coach? 

Positive Psychology What is Health Coaching?

Wave Life is an app with information about mental fitness, cognitive support for Gen-Z folks and health coach support. 

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Show 318 A Look at AmWell for Anxiety Treatment

As one section of America tries to move forward there are others that are determine to hold on to what didn't work in the past and certainly won't work in the future. 

In this day, do the best you can. That is the lesson to be learned across all of time and space.

I had to record this episode seven or eight times. 

I kept messing up. Mispronounced words. Forgot to explain something. Then there were the birds and the trash truck.

Together. In harmony.

You can aim for perfection, but in the meantime you do what you can.

You might muck it up but do what you can.

In this episode, a window shopping look at AmWell for anxiety treatment and mental health services.

If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources Mentioned: 

Discovery Magazine article about possible blood testing for anxiety.

Engadget post on Cerebral sharing data with Meta and other companies.

AmWell Mental Health Pages:

• Information page about anxiety.
• Information page about online therapy
• Information page about prescriptions

Medline Plus page on Telehealth provides information about what telehealth is and some of the pros and cons of it.

The National Institute of Mental Health has a two page brochure with basic description of what is tele-mental care and some of the pros and cons.

Anne Koller Water Meditation videos.

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Show 316 Proposed Virtual Prescription Changes

A few years ago in an episode I said:

Anxiety is so much more than the typical stress reaction. 

For some of us, we gag, we choke, we have heart pains, we have chest pains, we have diarrhea, we have gastric distress, we have excessive sweating.

We can't leave our homes. These are not the kind of things you're going to be thinking your way through if your symptoms are that extreme.

 

 And there was a point where my symptoms got that extreme.  I decided to take medication.

I am now on team make informed decisions about taking medication. And once you have made that decision there can be other obstacles. 

Like getting the prescription filled. There is a proposal from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) about applying changes to how prescriptions can be filled via telemedicine. 

This is just a brief overview of how they and other interested parties want to handle this process.

If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources Mentioned: 

From the Stanford Medicine Scope Blog,  Cyclic sighing can help breathe away anxiety.

Associated Press news story about restrictions on opiate medication treatment via telehealth providers.

February 24, 2023 U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency press release about proposed rules for issuing medication via telehealth providers. 

Proposed Telemedicine Rules Summary from the DEA

From Very Well Mind, a long post on what are benzodiazepines and the DEA schedule list.

Consumer Version of Merck Manual Drugs Used to Treat Anxiety Disorders

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Show 313 Mental Telehealth Services

In this episode, a look at some of the mental tele-health options that are in or will be introduced to the healthcare marketplace.

Next time, and throughout the year I'll show examples of a virtual mental health service, what it does, the pros & cons and other items of interest. 

If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources Mentioned: 

SAMSHA Disaster Distress helpline is 1-800-985-5990 for voice and text communication in English and Spanish. There are also other languages available and ASL video access is accessible via a smartphone. The SAMSHA website has a lot of information about disaster related mental health issues.

Telehealth.gov page Behavioral Health Care for Individual Care, this does a good job of describing the options in the the virtual mental health space at this time. 

National Institute of Mental Health has a downloadable PDF that gives a basic description virtual mental health option.

If you don't know where to start but you have to talk to somebody, there is the NAMI HelpLine that offer support Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. eastern standard time in the U.S. Call 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), text "HelpLine" to 62640 or email at helpline@nami.org

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Show 312 - What is Telehealth?

This is the start to a mini-series about telehealth and telemedicine options. Starting out with a definition of what telehealth is, types of provider services including a taste of virtual mental health care and recourses.

The short version is, per the U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services, 

“Telehealth — sometimes called telemedicine — lets your health care provider care for you without an in-person office visit. Telehealth is done primarily online with internet access on your computer, tablet, or smartphone.”

I think I have that song by David Bowie on repeat in my head. So many changes are occurring and I don't know if it is good sense to try to keep up with all of them.

Some changes there isn't a choice about. We have to be aware that entrepreneurs are providing medical  and mental health services via software, apps and treatment options.

Not all of the entrepreneurs are coming from a traditional medical orientation. There is a for profit slicing and dicing about providing access to care is taking place.

This is nothing new. There has always been stratified healthcare in the United States. 

• You have concierge medicine for the very rich and wealthy.
• Metered insurance access for those people that are in a rapidly compressed middle income space.
• And governmental and charity access if you are broke and your dollar has to stretch around the block.

The growth of telehealth/telemedicine providers is something we have to pay attention and understand what the impact will be on our physical and mental health treatment options.

If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources Mentioned: 

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, What Is Telehealth?  There is also a downloadable PDF on The Basics of Telehealth Care.

Medline Plus page on Telehealth also provides a bounty of information about what telehealth is and some of the pros and cons of it.

The National Institute of Mental Health has a two page brochure with basic description of what is tele-mental care and some of the pros and cons.

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

ARP 306 - The End of Amazon Care

Hi folks, I'm at high tide with work and symptoms acting like a three-year old. But I wanted to put this out to let folks know that the Amazon.Care service has closed. 

It is a little embarrassing for me. I had posted the episode and three weeks later the telehealth service began the process of shutting down. 

From what I can suss out, there were several reasons for the service going down, and I'm getting my information from the Washington Post newspaper, some of the industry publications, and I believe there was an actual internal memo from Amazon that was cited in some of the news reports.

So this is just a quick informational update plus a little bit about my Twitter concerns.

If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources Mentioned: 

Washington Post article about Amazon to shut down its telehealth offering and a second story Amazon Care is dead, but the tech giant’s health-care ambitions live on both by Caroline O'Donovan.

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Show 296 What is the Deal with Amazon Care?

November 2022 Update: Amazon Care telehealth service will shut down on December 31, 2022. Pulled the plug on it due to large corporations not signing on and the cost of running a commercial health service is expensive. I've have more in a future episode.

I'll keep the episode posted but Amazon Care is gone as in it is history.

It is late and I typed out a long passage about how entrepreneurs and corporation looking to boost revenue are looking at the U.S. dysfunctional health system. 

And that page got eaten by the spiritual gremlins of mischief. So this is the short version.

AmazonCare is a new virtual healthcare service from Amazon. It provides primary care, pharmaceuticals, some diagnostic services and, in my opinion, mental healthcare lite. 

Before you hippity hop over to the site you should know that someone is squatting on the .com domain Don’t go there. The correct address is Amazon.Care

If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at either 988 or 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources Mentioned: 

The AmazonCare web site - currently it is Amazon.Care. The .com version is domain squatted.

The Ginger website with information for consumers or businesses that would like to contract with the service.

The HBO series John Oliver's Last Week Tonight episode on Mental Health care. It is a dilly and you can watch the episode on YouTurbe.

The Body Keeps the Score, Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D. published in 2015 by Penguin Random House. The book is available  as a book, ebook and audiobook.

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.