Self-Management Courses Can Improve Your Life

Everyone wants to live an active and healthy life that doesn't include pain and unhappiness.  Sadly though, many of us will face long-term conditions that can slow us down and keep us from living the life we have always wanted.  Thankfully, there is a way of beating the things that slow us down, and living stronger and happier than ever before.

A new way to deal this these long term symptoms is a self-management course.  This course may be the helpful option you and so many other people are looking for.  Listen to how a class like this helped Betty:

Betty always dreamed of the day that she could hold and play with her grandchild, but her arthritis was so painful that she could not hold that precious baby.  That was until one of her friends told her about a self-management class being taught in her area.  After only six weeks, not only did Betty feel less pain from her arthritis, but she had more energy and was feeling better than ever!  She could now hold her grandbaby and take more walks with her friends, too.

A program like the one Betty went to can be found in the Kirksville area.  It is sponsored by Healthy for Life programs and the Regional Arthritis Center.  The class is called, "Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions."  It is a six week program and talks about many ways of dealing with life long illnesses. 

This program will talk about a lot of different things that have to do with living a healthier life: understanding what symptoms mean and taking care of symptoms, the right exercises for everyone, healthy eating, taking the right kinds of medicines, not letting stress take over you life, special strategies for all kinds of health problems, planning for what my look like scary times ahead, and much more.

People who could learn something from this class would be anyone who has to live with a chronic condition and is ready to take control.  The class is meant for people with heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, lung disease, high blood pressure, cancer, chronic pain, hepatitis, Parkinson's and more.  However, anyone living with any sort of condition, even it it wasn't just listed, could get something good out of this very helpful class!

Though this class can change your life for the better, it will not replace any treatment you already have.  People in the class still need to visit their regular doctors and continue any medicines or therapy they already have.  This class will, however, make these treatments work even better for you.  Imagine, not changing the things you already do, and feeling better after only taking this one class!

You may be wondering if this class really will be helpful.  We have to remember that we are in charge of our own health.  That's right, you are able to care for yourself completely and you only have to learn how!  A self-management course may teach you ways to make breathing easier, recipes to lower your blood sugar, or which kind of stretches will help your tired and sore knees.

On top of that, according to a study in California, people who took this program, when compared to those who didn't, showed better exercises, new ways to cope with their symptoms, and knew how to talk to doctors.  The people in the class didn't feel as tired, didn't have as many sudden health problems and spent more time with friends and family.  They also spent fewer days in the hospital and spent a lot less on money on health care all around.

For more information about this life-changing class offered in the Kirksville area, contact Doris Fountain with the Healthy for Life programs and the Regional Arthritis Center.  Her phone number is 660-626-2049.

Nobody wants to face a life filled with chronic disease and discomfort.  Free yourself from whatever is holding you back.  Decide to become Healthy for Life and enroll in this course to find a healthier you.

Live Like Your Life Depends On It

References:

Kaieser Permanente

k. Lorig, D. Sobel, V. Gonzalez, & M. Minor.  (2006).  Living a healthy life with chronic conditions.  Bull Publishing: Boulder, CO.

Patient Self Management.  (2010).  California Health Care Foundation.  http://www.chcf.org/chronicdisease/index.cfm?subtopic=CL613

What is the chronic disease self-management program.  (n.d.)  Stanford Patient Education Research Center.  Palo Alto, CA.  self-management@stanford.edu