Your Positive Health Care Plan for Women's Health Week

The week of May 10 - 16 is designated as National Women's Health Week by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office on Women's Health. Given the challenges we're facing with the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no better time to take time and assess your overall health.Your Initial Self-AssessmentHere's a visual way to do a self assessment that can alert you to areas of your health that may need attention:On a sheet of paper make a list of major health and wellbeing categories you want to to assess. As an example, your list might include:* Emotional and mental wellbeing;* Food consumption habits;* Sleep;* Exercise and movement; and,*Spiritual practices.This isn't an exhaustive list, but it could be a starting point. Choose other or additional health and wellbeing categories important to you.Next, honestly assess how satisfied you are for each category on a 1 to 10 scale. If you rate a category with a 10, you're totally satisfied with how things are for that category. A rating of "1" means you are totally unsatisfied.If, for example, you're exercising regularly with a mix of strength, flexibility, and heart health activities, you may rate Exercise and Movement as a 10. If your food consumption practices could use some improvement, you may rate that category as a 6. When assessing emotional and mental wellbeing, you might conclude chronic stress is a major problem so you may rate that category as a 3.At the conclusion of your category assessment evaluation, your list might be:* Emotional and mental wellbeing: 3;* Food consumption habits: 6;* Sleep: 8;* Exercise and movement: 10; and,* Spiritual practices: 7.You now have a visual numeric representation of the health and wellbeing categories important to you and your assessment on a 1 to 10 scale for how you're doing in each category. Next, you can choose one or possibility two categories you want to improve and build activities into your day-to-day routine to create the health and wellbeing positive changes you want to experience.FREA Self-Care Tools for Emotional WellbeingAt FREA, we encourage everyone to make emotional self-care and stress reduction a high priority everyday. Have a look at the Self-Care Skills page on our FREA site at https://www.frea.support/self-care-handouts.Consult With Appropriate Medical ProfessionalsIt's wise to always consult with an appropriate licensed medical professional for an overall health and - if you have experienced emotional or mental challenges - a mental health professional.Original blogpost on FREA.support: Link: https://www.frea.support/post/create-a-positive-health-care-plan-during-national-women-s-health-weekResources: National Women's Health Care Week information at Office of Women's Health - Link: https://www.womenshealth.gov/nwhw/about?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdeliveryFREA stress reduction resource page: Link: https://www.frea.support/self-care-handoutsHost information: Stephen Carter, CEO, Stress Solutions, LLC, https://www.EFT-MD.comEmail: [email protected] for podcast: http://www.MindOverStress.usMic: Ultravoice XM8500