FAMILY LIFE
Don’t focus on mistakes or bad behavior. Catch your child doing good things and point them out.
Chores don’t have to be a punishment. Chores at home can help children learn life skills and independence.
Spend a little time connecting each day. Take a few minutes to talk to your child without phones or screens.
© American Institute for Preventive Medicine
Social Health
Well-being relates to relatives.
Your family is where you learn who you are and how to relate to others. It plays a vital role in fulfilling the human need to belong and have close, long-term relationships. Whether you are a child, teen, or adult, family experiences can promote or hinder your well-being.
Tips to foster family well-being:
* Live a healthy lifestyle together.
– Plan for, shop, and eat healthy foods.
– Exercise as a family if you can. Or, promote physical activity suited for each family member.
– Get enough sleep.
* Plan to eat at least one meal a day together. Have each person talk about his or her day, such as stating the best part and worst part.
* Spend time together. Attend important events for each family member.
* Express care and concern. Be available to help each other out. Listen, listen, listen.
* Practice good manners. Say, “Thank you” and “You’re welcome.” Make it a practice to send thank you calls, notes, letters, or emails to others for gifts and other acts of kindness.
* Express affection. Say, “I love you,” “I care about you,” and “You mean a lot to me.”
* Discuss the value of the family as a whole. Encourage individual expression and development.
* Define clear, yet flexible roles for family members. Assign family chores.
* Keep the house as organized as possible.
* Discuss the need to adapt to changes and deal with stressful events.
* Seek professional help for problems the family cannot deal with on its own.
Factors that promote well-being:
* Being well cared for and feeling secure
* Receiving trust, love, support, and hugs
* Spending quality time together
* Listening well to each other
* Solving problems in a positive way
* Positive mood of family members
* Satisfaction with job and/or being a parent
* Being involved with partner and children
* Higher income and/or financial security
Action Step
This week, let at least two family members know how much you love them. Visit or call a relative who is alone or would be happy to hear from you.
© American Institute for Preventive Medicine
Mental Health Care
Physical closeness through holding hands, hugging, caressing, and intimacy raises your level of oxytocin – the love hormone.
* Make concrete plans to spend time with people you love, such as your partner, family, or friends.
* Look on the bright side and be with cheery people. Positive energy spreads from one person to another like an electrical charge.
* Give your partner a massage.
* Enjoy some cuddle time with your pet.
© American Institute for Preventive Medicine
Social Health
Start with loving yourself.
Build your own sense of self-worth.
* “Know thyself.” Define who you are in a way that does not depend on what other people think. Accept your weaknesses, but focus on your strengths. Accept others for their strengths and weaknesses, too. Trying to change other people is not realistic and can lead to them feeling rejected.
* Do things you love and are good at. The more time you spend doing things you love to do, the better it makes you feel. Doing things that you are good at gives you pride and raises your self-esteem.
* Look on the bright side and be with positive people. Positive energy spreads from one person to the next like an electrical charge.
* Speak in an assertive way. This is expressing your wants and need without hurting the feelings of others or putting them down. This helps prevent an aggressive response which can lead to feeling rejected.
* Be with and make new friends who have the same interests.
– Take a class.
– Join a scrapbooking club or book readers group.
– Play a favorite sport.
* Seek a support system. If you need help to feel accepted for who you are, be with family, friends, and coworkers who care for you without judgment. Join a support group with others who understand what you are going through and will accept you.
* Share intimate times with a partner. Raise your level of oxytocin, the “love hormone,” through a close, intimate relationship. This includes physical closeness through holding hands, hugging, and caressing, as well as sex. It also includes being willing to share your most private thoughts.
“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love & affection.”
– Buddha
Action Step
Set aside time from your hectic day or week to engage in activities that you love being a part of. And make concrete plans to spend one-on-one time with your partner or soul mate.
© American Institute for Preventive Medicine
Heart & Circulation Problems
Heart health isn’t just about not smoking and controlling cholesterol and blood pressure.
* Loving and feeling loved is vital to a healthy heart, as well as your overall well-being.
* Studies have consistently shown that:
– Negative relationships raise the risk of heart problems.
– Marriage lowers the risk of heart attack in both men and women of all ages.
– People who hugged often showed lowered blood pressure and levels of stress hormones.
Plan to spend time with loved ones. Go on a date with your partner once a week. Have a weekly family outing or game night.
Say, “I love you,” “I care about you,” and “You mean a lot to me.” Give hugs. Cuddle a pet.
Don’t spend too much time on your smart phone and other devices if it leads to neglecting loved ones.
© American Institute for Preventive Medicine
FAMILY LIFE
Your family is where you learn who you are and how to relate to others. It plays a vital role in fulfilling the human need to belong and have close, long-term relationships. Whether you are a child, teen, or adult, family experiences can promote or hinder your well-being.
Tips to foster family well-being
* Live a healthy lifestyle together.
– Plan for, shop, and eat healthy foods.
– Exercise as a family if you can. Or, promote physical activity suited for each family member.
– Get enough sleep.
* Plan to eat at least one meal a day together. Have each person talk about his or her day, such as stating the best part and worst part.
* Spend time together. Attend important events for each family member.
* Express care and concern. Be available to help each other out. Listen, listen, listen.
* Practice good manners. Say, “Thank you” and “You’re welcome.” Make it a practice to send thank you calls, notes, letters, or emails to others for gifts and other acts of kindness.
* Express affection. Say, “I love you,” “I care about you,” and “You mean a lot to me.”
* Discuss the value of the family as a whole. Encourage individual expression and development.
* Define clear, yet flexible roles for family members. Assign family chores.
* Keep the house as organized as possible.
* Discuss the need to adapt to changes and deal with stressful events.
* Seek professional help for problems the family cannot deal with on its own.
© American Institute for Preventive Medicine
HEALTHY EATING
While some dietitians extol the virtues of red wine, dark chocolate, and salmon for heart health, Dr. Katie Eliot, assistant professor of nutrition and dietetics at Saint Louis University, has a different plan.
Keep it simple. Look to heart-shaped foods to protect your heart.
“Being red and heart shaped can be a tip off that some foods are good for your heart,” Dr. Eliot said. “Many heart-shaped fruits and vegetables are great sources of antioxidants. These compounds act like shields, taking the hit from free radicals that otherwise damage the body and cause heart disease and cancer.”
For instance, strawberries and raspberries are loaded with vitamin C and an antioxidant that prevents plaque from forming in arteries. Cherries contain an antioxidant that is thought to protect the blood vessels and is high in potassium, which helps lower blood pressure.
Tomatoes and red peppers are rich in the antioxidant lycopene, which is in many red fruits and vegetables and works magic by neutralizing free radicals. And acorn squash and apples contain a type of fiber, which reduces bad cholesterol that can clog up your arteries to cause heart attacks and stroke.
© American Institute for Preventive Medicine