Friendship in Sickness and in Health

 

Dear Readers,

I usually don’t share this type of stuff with you; however this has been weighing on my heart for few weeks. This post is really to support any patient suffering with a health related challenge. Actually, I am penning it for a real person who will remain nameless. The reason I try to keep this blog going is to support and encourage those struggling with health problems. Here is letter to friend which is part personal and supportive to all those struggling with a health problem with a focus on cancer.

Dear Friend,

I hope you are well and battling back against the cancer. As I said to you many times in my zealous support and love for you that this disease will not beat you. You will come back stronger better than ever, since you have always taken such excellent care of yourself.  The image that I will always have of you is being big, strong, and healthy. You are and will continue to be a force to be reckoned with. As friends, we have been through many up and downs, so this disease will not come between us. Sadly, I cannot begin to understand everything that you are going through. My solution is to love and support you the best way that I know how, which is a lot of calls, moments of silence wishing you well, and being there for you when you are ready.  The question plaguing me is what I can do to support you and others. My thought is list some resources that may be helpful to people with cancer and those supporting cancer patients. Here goes.

1. PatientsLikeMe is a resource for patients struggling with a health challenge.
2. CareZone is a great app for managing the chaos of scheduling related to your condition as well as communicating with loved ones.
3. The app called Check Yourself is for breast cancer self exams which is important in the detection and prevention for breast cancer.
4. This site covers an important niche Black Men Health’s. Health disparities are a major challenge, so this site is an important site servicing an underserved population. Great resource, please visit.
5. Here is a website for those caring for cancer patients. This resource has been around since 1944, it is called Cancercare.
6. Walgreens and The Komen foundation have come together to support underserved populations that are battling breast cancer.

I just want to say in closing, friend I don’t know what you are going through. All I can say is that I love and care about you. My friendship is forever and a day, so I am here whenever you are ready.

Readers, I hope this information is helpful. Also please provide any information or websites that you found helpful in the comments section. I tried my best but there are probably better or other resources that one should contact.

Thank you for reading.

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Best Workout for 2015 and Beyond

Hello All,

It is the time of the year when everyone is trying to get back into shape or maintain their health. Jillian Michaels is not someone who I believed had a serious workout video at first.  I immediately learned that was not true after trying out the workout posted. This video will have you breathing heavy during the warm up. She is the real deal! Dont underestimate her. She has a killer yoga workout video,too. Also she has a great podcast that you should check out as well. She is on twitter as well @JillianMichaels.

Enjoy! You will sweat guaranteed.

Happy Monday to you!

Lisa

The Best Digital Stuff of 2014

 

Hello All,

Usually, I am watching and listening a great deal of the time on social media. However, since it is the end of the year, I wanted to reflect, applaud, and say thank you to some great people working online.  Some of my favorite thought leaders in healthcare, social media/digital, and general news will be highlighted. All of these individuals have taught me a great day as well as made me think.

Part 1: News

NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour is a great weekly podcast headed by Linda Holmes. They talk about all things pop culture books, television, movies, podcasts, music, and more. This podcast has something for everyone and every type of nerd. The podcast allows me to keep up with everything that is happening in pop culture along with providing stimulating intelligent analysis of it. You can find them on Twitter @nprmonkeysee. I hope to see you guys live sometime.

This Week In Blackness is a reasonable political minded podcast that covers the topics of the day. I enjoy hearing the crew discuss the topics of the day with a funny spin to it. Regardless of Imani’s and Aaron’s love/hate for salads, I still enjoy the podcast. LOL. Imani and Aaron, you have inspired an upcoming blog post from me about how to build a salad that is filling. (Imani and Aaron, I hope to encourage you two to show a little more love to salads. Giggle.)  Elon and crew please keep up the good work! TWIB’s social justice work and focus on issues related to African American culture is needed. Additionally, please support independent media via a subscription to their podcast or use the amazon.twib.me link when shopping on Amazon.  Please catch them on social media @ANSFreeman @TWiBnation @ElonJames @AngryBlackLady.

Citizens Radio is another wonderful podcast that is funny and informative. They have cats, which are cute and the hosts are vegans.  I am striving to be a committed vegan just like the hosts of the show. Also they love coffee along with keeping the public informed about issues not covered by the mainstream media. Allison and Jaime play off each other really well. Please support their podcast and new book called #NewsFail. You can catch them at @CitizenRadio @JamieKilstein

The Bugle has two well known and funny guys hosting the podcast. John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman really bring the funny to the weekly news. Give these guys some credit for making the torture reports sound funny, while being informative. I enjoy their podcast. Also buy some of their funny merchandise to support them. You can follow them on twitter @hellobuglers

RadioTimes from Whyy and Washington Week Podcast are two great news podcasts that bring well-researched news and interesting stories to the public each week. Gwen Ifill is the moderator of Washington Week and Co-Anchor of the PBS Newshour as well as an award winning author. You can follow her at @gwenifill. RadioTimes covers regional, national, and international issues in a thought provoking way. Marty the show’s host is always willing to discuss the tough topics of the day. You can follow Marty Moss Coane at @martymosscoane.

 

Part 2: Social Media Thought Leaders

Jeff Bullas has taught me so much about social media marketing from his posts. His content is informative and spot on. Also I have learned a great deal by just observing his interactions along with the way he markets his content. Thank you Jeff for all that you do! Please check him out on twitter along with his blog. Jeff Bullas can be found @JeffBullas.

Pam Moore is fun, informative, and provides helpful insights into marketing and social media. Additionally, she provides inspirational quotes and actionable information. I loved the Christmas hat by the way, Pam, it looks great on you. Smile. You can follow her @PamMktNut

SocialPros is a podcast created by Jay Baer a very successful professional in social media and marketing. The podcast is very informative providing lots of tips, tricks, and insight, while being fun. Also I enjoy his emails from Convince and Convert which give timely and forward thinking insight for professionals working in the trenches doing social media. I think you may notice that I only read information that improves my ability to add value to my clients or my own work. Time is important and a limited resource. SocialPros and Convince and Convert are worth your time to exploring because of quality content created by Jay. Please check out his podcast SocialPros and Jay Baer on Twitter @JayBaer

Alex Harris was one of the first podcasts that I found when I was trying to learn about social media/digital marketing. His podcast Marketing Optimization covers emerging trends in digital/online marketing. He is very well read, highly experienced digital/online marketer, and seems like a good dude. His podcast is about results, covering all the current topics, forward thinking, while interviewing top professionals in online marketing. His CROMastermind seems like an opportunity worth exploring for any marketing professional. Please download his podcast Marketing Optimization and find him on Twitter @AlexDesigns

 

Part 3: Health and Wellness

Mynameisjessamyn is creating an amazing movement related to yoga on social media. She is bringing yoga to the masses in a teachable and approachable way for all body types. The Mynameisjessamyn social media platform is a great resource for where ever one may be on their yoga journey. Please check her out on tumblr and twitter @JessNotJazz. Keep creating great content to make yoga accessible to everyone!

On Tumblr there is a great blog that is called Vegan-Yums. The food on this blog looks awesome and many of the recipes are ones that the average person can reproduce at home. I don’t know if anyone can create the beautiful food captured in the blog, but I try. Smile. The tumblr blog really interacts well with its readers and provides great support to them on their healthy eating journey. It inspires me to create my own platform to support those seeking a better way to eat. Kudos to Vegan-Yums. Keep up the great work!!

Dr. Nina Cherie is an awesome healthcare professional who provides informative implementable advice to improve one’s health. She looks awesome which is equally as inspiring as the advice provided. Her advice will help you make your new year’s resolution for health a reality. Please check her out on Twitter @NinaCheriePhD and on her Google+ website. Thanks for the tips, Dr. Cherie. You look awesome!

NutritionFacts.org has a vibrant, informative, and helpful website along with social media presence. The nutritional information provided is well researched science backed insight coming from trained medical professionals.  Please support this informative website that is providing scientific information about nutrition that appears to be unbiased to the public. NutritionFacts.org produces tons of easy to view educational videos in easy to understand terms about nutrition. You can check Dr. Greger out on Twitter at @nutrition_facts.

One last thank you to everyone mentioned above as well as to the many others that are providing great content. There may be a part two to this post.  Smile.

That is who inspired and informed me in 2014. Who inspired and informed you in 2014? Who do you recommend for keeping an eye on in 2015? Let me know. Happy New Year to Everyone!

 

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A 30 Minute Workout

Hello All,

Happy Holidays to All! This time of the year can be very chaotic leaving no time to workout.

This is a no equipment needed workout that anyone can do possibly anywhere. It is my hope that this work out is helpful.  Later this week, I will have another post covering my digital thank yous to my colleagues in both health and digital/social media in 2014.

Hope this workout is helpful.

Have a great week.

Happy Monday!

Digital Best/Worst of Ebola

In some sense, I see digital health when communicated via online or real time television as a version of marketing. Healthcare systems have a message to communicate to the masses in an efficient and understandable way. Additionally, the goal is to inform, which is the goal of marketing. Both marketing and healthcare are regulated, but ultimately have the same goal of getting consumers to act. Healthcare the goal is action related to person or public health outcomes. Marketing the focus being consumption of a product or service. So it is through the lense of marketing aka mass communication, that I looked at the best and worse of the Ebola crisis from a digital perspective.

Best Part

NIH and CDC both have been very active on social media engaging with the public regarding Ebola. This really assists the public in being able to get quality scientific based information about the disease. Additionally, they didn’t delay in discussing on social media what was happening even before the disease was brought to the US. Dr. Friedman from NIH has been very active on Twitter. His Twitter account is @DrFriedenCDC.

mHero is a mobile healthcare technology platform that assists healthcare workers in communicating across West Africa’s fragmented healthcare system. The mHero system can capture critical data and permits for better patient care coordination. The best part is that all this is happening in real time which is critical in the ever changing Ebola pandemic.

Cell phone digital data could stem the tide of Ebola. The digital health information gathered from the cell phones can assist health officials in understanding about the density of the area and the potential number infected. The digital health data captured from cell phones can assist with predicting where a virus outbreak might occur next.  Cell phone digital health data provides an excellent source of information about transportation patterns of populations when used in aggregate. This digital data when applied to historical data can give scientists’ a sense of where people may travel next, therefore permits them to proactively manage site of new Ebola outbreaks.

What’s App the social media app is forging into mhealth terrain via assisting with educating the public about Ebola along with ways to protect themselves. The information is distributed three times a day via the app. The information is presented in both French and English. Most importantly the information is accessible to those with or without a smartphone. One can just listen to the small downloadable digital data packets. The convergence of social media, digital, and public health being used to connect the community with timely life changing information is exciting. Kudo’s to Whats App!

Worst Part

American arrogance related to the US health system compared to other countries’ healthcare. America is a great place however we are human, so there are some short comings as can be expected with all healthcare systems. The US healthcare system market itself as providing world class healthcare superior to other countries. This is sadly another time that reveals not just the short comings in African countries healthcare system but ours as well. Many scientists have made comments about the nature of fragmentation and subpar system in Africa. However, we have had a few snafus in our management of patients and healthcare workers that treated the patient in Dallas that died.

I am a news junkie, but sadly, the news is one entity along with politicians contributing to most misinformation and bad approaches to managing the Ebola pandemic. The US news cycle is 24 hours/7 days a week, so there has been a great deal of stroking of the fears of the public regarding Ebola. The entire news media is the blame CNN, FoxNews, MSNBC, etc. Politicians used the 24/7 news cycle to scare and inflame fears of the public via various tweets seen below. The flu and the growing obesity epidemic cause greater harm to Americans each year but are not very sexy to discuss.

The last part that has me concerned is the American public’s approach to dealing with this disease. I understand that parents and adults are very concerned, which the American public should be, since Eboloa is a very serious disease. However, we have to be reasonable about how we treat others and potential patients. A woman from Africa in the Philadelphia Metro area was treated horribly because a health professional thought she might be an Ebola patient because of her ethnicity. We have to improve our health literacy and cultural sensitivity as a country.

Honorable mention to Facebook and Google, they are both focusing on assisting in providing the much needed funds to West African countries for Ebola. If you have the financial resources available, please contribute to either Facebook’s or Google’s initiative to support West Africa.

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/fightebola

Google https://onetoday.google.com/fightebola

What good or bad have you seen come out of the Ebola epidemic from a digital perspective?

 

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Feedback Time!

 

Happy Monday, All!

Hope you are well. It is beautiful fall day.

Below I have a included a poll to better understand how to serve you.

Please provide your feedback, additionally a contact form is included, if you would like to reach out to me.

 

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Thank You, Readers!

 

 

It just recently occurred to me (via WordPress) that this blog is 2 years old. If you know me in my non-digital  life, I don’t celebrate much in life. I am usually pushing to the next goal. The only reason this celebration is happening is because it is for YOU. Thank YOU for taking the time to join my journey. It is incredible to think this started from a recommendation of a friend.

PS I want to apologize because previously there has not consistently been a comment section. My apologies, this blog’s goal is to be helpful and supportive along with encouraging your feedback. Please provide your feedback and questions below.  In a few days, I will be submitting a poll to better understand, how to support and assist you.  When posts are created moving forward a comment section will be added consistently.

Thanks again for taking the journey with me over the last 2 years!

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Introducing A Struggling Vegetarian

What is up with the page title? A very good question, I was drawn to wordpress blogging because of two things. First, a great male friend of mine saw a woman on MSNBC who was famous because of her blog. He thought that my brain neurons were fully firing and that I was semi-articulate therefore should create blog. Giggle. He saw a potential in me. Thank you friend, if you are reading this. Smile.

Part two was that I am a struggling vegetarian. So what does that mean? It means that I jumped into being a vegetarian without any real knowledge or support. During my journey, I have had some successes as well as failures. Over the years of starts, stops, and failures, I have learned a great deal about doing this “right”. My biggest frustration during that period was the lack of support and resources during my transition. This frustration is the source of the creation of this blog. Half of my goal of this blog platform is to support those that struggling with the vegetarian journey.

Okay, Lisa that is great, so what does all this mean? Weekly, I will provide a blog post related to food and health to support those trying to improve their health. Naturally, my own struggles will be shared to let readers know that they are not alone. In tandem with that, my passion for supporting struggling vegetarians will be going offline very soon. Keep an eye out for information and opportunities to meet in person.

The great thing about this being a dynamic blog is that I can still discuss digital marketing and consumer tech as well as healthy eating.

Looking forward to supporting fellow struggling vegetarians or those thinking of adopting a vegetarian lifestyle!
Have a great week full of infinite possibilities! 🙂

An App for Romance and Health

I never thought that I would be discussing romance and apps. However, there is famous saying that is often quoted, “There is an app for that!”  Hula app helps with an important public health issue STD testing. Studies say that from November to Valentine’s Day is a busy time for online dating, so why not get an app to learn your partner’s STD status, so in comes Hula.

The mobile application is called Hula, which is currently only available on iOS. The application is a middle man between the patient and the healthcare provider. Information is only available to the patient and the intended partner. There is no sharing to Facebook. Hula staff is well trained to interrupt the results. The application can assist you with finding testing centers, set reminders to get tested, and gives date/time stamps for when you are tested.

I say Kudos! to Hula for making a helpful mobile app. Here’s why:

• It makes a difficult conversation a little less so.
• Those in under-served areas are users of mobile technology, so this is accessible to them. The issue of the digital divide is addressed.
• The patient’s privacy concerns are addressed.
• One’s testing results should be easily accessible and understood by consumers themselves.
• Hula is being a role model for other mobile applications.
• Most importantly this app is efficiently addressing our nation’s public health organizations ability to test for STDs.

You can download Hula at:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hula-find-clinic-or-doctor/id681370869

 

Gov Corbett and the ACA in PA

This post is inspired by Gov Corbett’s change of heart related to the ACA. This governor has shown that he doesn’t care about anyone students, ill citizens, or being reelected, it appeared. Please remember he was one of the governors that initially fought the ACA per Republican playbook. Gov Corbett has conveniently decided to roll-out a form of ACA in PA, since it is reelection time.  In his roll out, he has added a part time or “job search” requirement. These job search activities are really a way of supporting his supporters than run large non profits training programs for the state welfare department in poor and high unemployment communities. We can look to Pres. Clinton’s results from his welfare to work program to see that it was minimally successful in fixing income inequalities in America. Next, if a citizen misses a certain number of premium payments, then they will be cancelled from their insurance program. In the end this all is an attempt for Gov Corbett to say that he tried to work with President Obama to provide healthcare to PA citizens, yet received no support from the Democrats.

In the link, I have provided information about upcoming town hall meetings. Please attend, if you can.  http://www.pa.gov/Pages/NewsDetails.aspx?agency=PAGovNews&item=15063

The governor cuts education funding, but increases prison funding.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2011/03/21/pennsylvania-governor-tom-corbett-slashes-education-while-increasing-funding-for-prisons/

This is Corbett’s job creation record as governor of the state of PA.

http://www.shrm.org/LegalIssues/StateandLocalResources/Pages/Pa-Gov-Corbett-Defends-Drug-Use-Comments.aspx

His approach to healthcare as the governor.

http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-pennsylvania-20131213,0,51848.story#axzz2nn1PepOc