CNA contracts with employers to provide mental and behavioral health services to their employees and their dependents with very impressive results.  Their phones are manned 24/7/365 by counselors with a minimum of Masters level education and 5 years of experience. There is no triage. The phones are answered within 3 rings.

Mental Health is a really hot topic for employers right now because of the Mental Health Parity law which became effective this year. It mandates that mental health benefits must match benefits offered for any medical conditions. For people with serious mental health illness, this is a wonderful thing. On the other hand, it can also be abused.

Some of CNA’s clients chose to amend their Plan Documents to reflect this change one year ago.  It was expected that their mental and nervous claims would increase at least 10%.  This did not happen.  The claims costs remained constant and in one case, the claims dropped by 8%.

How is this possible? CNA’s interventions are very effective. Many issues are resolved entirely over the phone. When face to face sessions are indicated, they are conducted by professionals with a track record for their effectiveness.

Want more information? Call Chuck at Charles Nechtem Associates and tell him I sent you.

Let me share some statistics:

The American Psychological Association published a study of 1,848 adults.
Their findings include the following:
• 77% experienced physical symptoms of stress during the last month
• 73% experienced psychological stress during the last month
• 74% find work a significant source of stress
• 48% of adults lay awake at night because of stress
• 43% overeat or eat unhealthy foods because of stress
• 55% reported varying degrees of lost productivity while at work during the past month
• Only 7% have sought professional support during the past year

These stats along with our current “health” care system have stimulated a lot of thinking about this.  I am presenting  a plan to help millions of people (employees and dependents) manage stress in order to stay healthy and heal faster if they become ill. My plan allows completely confidential access to help.

My new product is called “Sound Mind Sound Body Corporate Wellness Plan”.  It offers downloads of my Guided Imagery (hypnotherapy) CD’s for a variety of challenges.   Employers choose to either pay a nominal fee per employee per month for unlimited downloads, or pay per download.  Sound Mind is in the Beta Test stage and so far people love it. It will be available for purchase February 1, 2011.

My first prospect is a large, privately held EAP (Employee Assistance Program) whose goals and philosophy are very similar to mine.  We differ in that the owner, Chuck Nechtem, understood the importance of the mind body connection  27 years before I did. One of their in house counselors has started sharing the downloads with their clients and is convinced they should be offered to all 5 million of their covered employees.  I agree.

You may already know that in 1958, there was enough research and evidence using hypnotherapy for the American Medical association to approve it as a valuable healing modality to complement Western Medicine. It hasn’t yet been used to its fullest potential. I am doing my best change that.  It is powerful, simple, comfortable, without side effects and cost effective.

If you’d like to learn more, either check out the the Sound Mind Sound Body Information Packet or be in touch with me.  I look forward to helping you improve productivity, morale, and decrease presenteeism, sick days, and Workers Compensation Claims.

This past week, I saw first hand how many people are stressed. .  Every client who walked into my office was stressed. People came to me because of smoking, overeating, vomiting when it was time to head off to school.  With the exception of that young student, my clients didn’t even acknowledge that they were feeling stressed.  It was very apparent to me because of the way they spoke.  They just seem to take this for granted. I t’s pretty amazing, but not really surprising.

There are so many challenges in our culture right now.  We have people without jobs stressed about finances and finding another job. Then there are those with jobs who may be overworked and wondering how long their jobs will last.  Gallup-Healthways reports that only 47.7% of those polled feel good about their work.

Many have kids and parents to care for and place great demands on themselves and others. The Gallup-Healthways Study “Facets of Well-Being Across the Age Spectrum in the American Population” shows that people age 44 to 64 have an “intermediate” wellness score, lower than people both older and younger.

Why is too much stress harmful?  Because what we are talking about is the “Fight or Flight” response as a chronic state as opposed to the response to an “acute” situation.  It wasn’t meant to be used in that way.  Think of the effect of excess stress.  We don’t sleep at night; we overeat, may use alcohol or cigarettes to cope. We have more accidents, more illnesses, challenges in our relationships. This takes a huge toll from the standpoint of quality of life and financial resources.

The challenges are real.  The economy is the source of much worry.  What can we do?

In  my opinion, pay attention to the basics:

1.       Meditation.  Try practicing meditation twice daily. Before you dismiss this as being to “out there” for you, consider the fact that in addition to being embraced by people of many faiths and belief systems for thousands of years, the value has been quantified by Western Medicine and its advanced imaging equipment. We know that the mind has “neuroplasticity” and, just like a muscle, can be exercised into better shape. Meditation is simple, effective and requires no financial investment.  It takes only a few minutes twice daily.

2.       Focus on what is great about you and your life.  Have you ever noticed that 90% of your life can be wonderful and yet  where do your thoughts gravitate?  The 10% that is not.  Make lists of your accomplishments, positive skills and attributes, dreams and all that is good in your life.  Allow the challenges you face to take a back seat to the abundance you have.  It is not only possible but very helpful

3.       Feel as happy as possible.  You may have noticed that happy people are also successful. University of California researchers in a meta analysis of 275,000 participants found that hat people with “frequent positive affect” are more likely to be successful  in both their professional and personal lives. “It seems that happiness leads to success, not vice versa.”   Appreciate simple pleasures.  Do your best to continue to spend wisely on things that make you feel truly happy.

4.       Surround yourself with people who are upbeat and encouraging.  Words have power. Allow yourself to be inspired by the words of others.

5.       Read motivating books or encouraging books.

6.       You may want to consider one or two hypnotherapy sessions to release outdated and limiting beliefs that may be contributing to your stress.

7.       Sound Body:  Exercise, eat nutrition packed foods, get adequate rest. Make sure you get plenty of sunshine. We are just starting to document the benefits of Vitamin D, the Sunshine Vitamin. A sound body contributes to a sound mind and vice versa.

I’d like the take away message to be that you are in control.  Feelings change based on your perspective.  Looking for that  “silver lining” can be very empowering.

Yes, health insurance and Medicare help many people get the medical care they need. The flip side is, the third party payment system is responsible for much of our health care funding crisis. Why do I say this?  To begin with, many  people make decisions about their health care based on whether or not insurance will pay  rather than evaluating whether or not the care or test is appropriate  and balancing the risk versus benefit.  Additionally, since they don’t consider insurance dollars to be their own, they are less likely to pay attention to the billing.

In the case of Dr. Sheth, even if the billing agencies, the Insurance Companies, and Medicare missed the warning signs, each and every patient should have received an EOB (Explanation of Benefits of the equivalent) and seen payments to a doctor they never even saw.   People seem to forget that everyone who pays health insurance premiums or taxes is paying insurance bills, whether they are legitimate or not.

“Solving” the funding challenges around health care funding need to focus on education, awareness, patient advocacy, empowerment, and wellness.  People need to have good information and use common sense when making choices about every aspect of both their health care and life style choices.  Does it make sense that we can thrive on processed foods that come in boxes and have lots high fructose corn syrup?  How about diet soda? We know the value of exercise.  How many people exercise regularly?  How about doctors’ recommendations for testing and care?   Information and common sense are critical. If you doubt what I am saying about the importance of being aware and your own advocate, check out “Death By Medicine“.

Begin today.  Learn more about nutrition, exercise, healthy lifestyles, reducing stress and any diagnoses you may have received.  The ball is in YOUR COURT. Grab it and run with it.

I still remember an article I read many years ago that said many studies showed that the success of a prescribed drug was impacted by the words the doctor spoke when prescribing it. If a patient was told, “This is a miracle drug. It will make you well,” it was very likely to work wonders. If, on the other hand, the patient was told, “Let’s try this out. If you have……… this will help. Otherwise, we’ll try something else,” the treatment was likely to fail.

I now know the placebo effect is well documented and shown to have direct and measurable physiological effects.

I then learned about the “Nocebo Effect.” In Latin this means “I will harm.” This term refers to the adverse effects of expectations about disease, treatments, and pharmaceuticals. A commonly quoted story is about a man who lived in the 1970s who first won a bout with cancer. He was later told his cancer had returned and he had only a short time to live. He did pass away at the prescribed time. An autopsy showed that he did in fact have a minute tumor on his liver but it did not kill him.

In June of this year, a very vibrant, determined young woman, Jessica, was diagnosed with rectal cancer that had already spread to her lungs and liver. Early on, Jessica made the decision that in spite of her doctor’s dire predictions, she would survive and live a long and healthy life. The blog her mother created — Jessica’s Victory — reflects her expectation. She agreed to have chemotherapy and chose not to learn about possible adverse reactions. (This information was shared with her mother who could monitor Jessica’s well being). She researched and used acupuncture, proper nutrition, guided imagery, and participated in a Tong Ren group led by a healer and acupuncturist for people who were given no hope by their doctors. She was also given my Guided Imagery CD “Cancer Be Gone” by her oncology nurse at Portsmouth Regional Hospital. Six months have now passed and Jessica’s primary tumor is completely gone! She remains beautiful, full of life, and her cancer markers are very low. Many would call her a miracle.

Let me ask you this question. In your life, do you choose PLACEBO or NOCEBO?

The meditators remained healthy longer and had lower blood pressures.

Dr. Robert Schneider, Director of the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention, states that the stress reduction that accompanies meditation can reduce the production of stress hormones and lessen the inflammatory processes which are associated with atheroschlerosis.

Check out  the article “Regimens:  Meditation, for the Mind and the Heart”

One would think that health insurance companies would be motivated to encourage better eating habits and healthier life style choices in general.  Many are not yet.  However, as Michael points out, if insurance companies can no longer impose pre-existing condition limitations or adjust their premiums to compensate for poor health and therefore high claims, this may shift.

One  can only hope. Big Food vs. Big Insurance

A number of years ago, changes in my life style led to a transition from working as an RN in Emergency Departments to a private practice in hypnotherapy. I had no idea the impact this would have on my life and the potential it holds for transforming the health care system as we know it, in addition to individual lives.

As I began treating patients for the usual fears, phobias, unwelcome habits and to prepare them for surgery something else was happening. They would call back saying that in addition to managing the primary issue, other changes were happening as well. For instance, one man said the psoriasis he had for 20 years was gone. Another woman who was scheduled for surgery on her knees got better. One woman began to sleep through the night for the first time in her life. One man whose broken arm had not healed for 9 months returned to his doctor to find it had suddenly healed.

Reviewing literature and anecdotal reports, I’ve come to the conclusion that stress is the underlying issue in the vast majority, perhaps as much as 90%, of health issues. In the mid 1950’s Hans Selye encouraged doctors to “treat the whole person, not the organism causing illness” and yet that suggestion has not yet been adequately integrated into our systems.

In the February 27, 2008 issue of JAMA, Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH writes

“If reforming US health care results only in expanded access to care, costs will increase faster but with limited health benefits. If only cost controls are instituted, even more individuals will be denied access to care. Health care must be restructured to make maximizing health the organizing principle. To do this, 3 synergistic changes are needed: (1) payment that offers substantial rewards for disease prevention and effective management of chronic disease; (2) an information system oriented toward prevention; and (3) changes in care management and practice workflows.”

Let’s consider how managing stress could impact the current crisis in health care funding.

Janet Kiecolt Glaser, University of Ohio Medical School did a study measuring the rate of healing of a small, intentional wound (size of an eraser on a pencil). The wound took nine days longer to heal on the group experiencing stress versus the control. Think of the implications of this on diabetics and wound healing. Would you be stressed if you were diabetic with a foot ulcer? How about patients undergoing surgery who are “scared to death”? Reading about the history of hypnosis and surgery, it is said that back in the early 1800’s surgery was done without anesthesia. When hypnosis as anesthesia was introduced, the mortality rate decreased from 40% to 5%.

Blue Shield of California gave a group of 941 women undergoing surgery a guided imagery (hypnotherapy) CD which cost them $17.95 each. This reduced the per patient cost by $2,000 on average.

Similar studies and results abound. This is such a simple, powerful, affordable intervention. Why is it not commonly done?

How about reducing stress among asthmatics, IBS patients, cancer patients, couples seeking fertility treatments, people with dental phobias? Insomnia. Think about the implications of sleep deprivation which can be caused by stress. The applications are endless. Studies support these applications and others.

Hypnosis was approved by the AMA in 1958 – 50 years ago. Since then the trend has favored pharmaceuticals. In my opinion, it’s time to revisit that. Hypnotherapy is evidence based, effective, affordable and without adverse side effects. It manages underlying stress that impacts our physical and mental health, our ability to heal and ultimately our quality of life.

]]> http://www.acmswellness.com/blog/wellness-stress-and-the-american-health-care-system-2.php/feed 0 http://www.acmswellness.com/blog/gallup-healthways-monthly-us-well-being-report.php http://www.acmswellness.com/blog/gallup-healthways-monthly-us-well-being-report.php#comments Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:59:09 +0000 Sharon O'Connor, RN http://www.atlanticcomplementary.com/blog/?p=249 Continue reading →]]> Our wellness is improving. But, check out the figures.

The most recent Gallup-Healthways  poll shows across the board improvement for the first time this year.  In fact, at 66.8,  it is very  near the all time record high of 67.0.

We are improving, but still have a long way to go.  The report shows that 141 million American reported engaging in healthy activities during that month; another 79 million, did not.

Physical health  jumped to its highest level since October, 2008.  People are happier at work and are participating in healthier behaviors.  These are the sorts of changes that will led to better health and lower health care costs.

Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Report