MinervaHealth.com

Every month Anne LaFleur sends employees in her office a quiz about various wellness topics. When the topic was depression, she received twice as many responses as usual from co-workers.

When LaFleur, vice president of human resources at a credit union in Pawtucket, RI, took a Mental Health First Aid course in February, she quickly understood the reason for the high level of interest in mental health issues. The training also helped her identify people in her office who may be suffering a mental health problem and taught her how to provide help and refer people to self-help and professional resources. “The training made me realize that mental health issues are very common, yet one of the least talked about problems,” LaFleur says.

More than one in four people suffer from a diagnosable mental health problem in any given year. Mental illness likely costs businesses more than billion a year, billion of it in lost productivity. The statistics point to the significant need to incorporate mental health into burgeoning employee wellness programs, which have received a shot in the arm with the passage of federal healthcare reform legislation.

Mental Health First Aid has proved to be an ideal program to promote improved mental health in workplaces across the country.

LaFleur is one of more than 6,000 people certified in Mental Health First Aid since the training was introduced in the United States two years ago by the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare along with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Missouri Department of Mental Health.

Those who participate in the 12-hour Mental Health First Aid course learn a five-step process to assess a situation, select and implement appropriate interventions and help a person developing signs and symptoms of mental illness or in crisis receive appropriate care. Participants also learn about the risk factors and warning signs of specific illnesses such as anxiety, depression, psychosis, and addiction.

Evaluations show that the evidence-based Mental Health First Aid program saves lives, expands people’s knowledge of mental illnesses and their treatments, and reduces the stigma associated with mental illness by helping people understand and accept mental illness as a medical condition. One trial of 301randomized participants found that those who took the training had greater confidence in providing help to others, greater likelihood of advising people to seek professional help, and decreased stigmatizing attitudes.

Unexpectedly, the study also found that Mental Health First Aid improved the mental health of the participants themselves.

“By understanding the signs and symptoms of depression, I learned to recognize this in myself,” says Kellie-Ann Heenan, director of human resources at a company in Lincoln, RI.

Heenan, who had the training in February, has an adopted son from Russia who suffers from a number of emotional issues.

“The tools I learned made it easier to connect with him and better understand where he’s coming from,” she says. “In the end, the training improved my own mental health.”

LaFleur has also applied the lessons she learned in the course to her home life.

“My kids are in their 20s and they go through the typical ups and downs,” says LaFleur, “I use my Mental Health First Aid training to see how my kids are feeling.” LaFleur says she was surprised by the range of mental health issues covered in the course.

“We looked at how to deal with both crisis and non-crisis situations, and it made us very aware of the terminology we use that may not be socially correct,” she says, noting that describing co-workers as “crazy” or a “nut case” may be hurtful to people going through an emotionally trying time.

The training proved to be particularly helpful to Lynn Corwin last January when two fellow employees walked into her office in a panic. They told Corwin, director of human resources at the organization, that a co-worker was extremely upset about the recent earthquake in Haiti. The distressed young woman had a close friend in Haiti and had been unable to contact the person for five days. Fearing the worst, the woman was having difficulty managing her emotions, let alone being able to work.

While the two workers had no idea how to deal with the situation, Corwin sprung into action.

“I used what I learned in the course to calm the woman down and talk with her about how she’s feeling,” says Corwin. “I explained to her that it was OK to be upset, and to not be embarrassed about it.”

“The training left me with a greater sense of confidence about how to deal with a variety of people issues that come up in every office,” concludes Heenan. “There’s such a stigma around mental health and people don’t want to talk about it, so having the information gives me confidence that I’ll be able to handle these types of situations when they arise.”

The need for a Medicare insurance plan is of grave importance for Americans. Having an insurance policy, you need have to worry about paying the massive medical bills. The types of Medicare coverage plans in US are listed below.

There are mainly 4 types of Medicare plans. Let us start with the part A. At first you need to sign up in the plan. Part A covers a greater percentage of your expenses on your medical bills while you are in the hospital. It covers the expenses on the services of the physician, skilled nursing, hospice care, inpatient care, and home health care. This plan is free of cost, if your job has Medicare coverage. It can be for a period of 10 years or more. And if you are hospitalized, it is required that you have to pay a deductible. The plan pays only the expenses up to a period 90 days of hospital stay.

Part B covers the expenses on doctors visit and on the diagnostic tests what the doctor recommends. In this type of plan you need not to sign up. The cost for this plan depends upon your yearly income. Before you are covered by this plan, you need to pay deductible so that Medicare takes care of the 80% of the total cost. Hence, you are required only to pay the rest 20% and for the other items that are not covered by the plan. This plan is only valid only if you are staying in the United States.

The part C is also known as Medicare advantage. This plan is more financially reasonable care option. Its a combination of part A and part B. So you need to sign up in both A and B to start this plan. it covers for your emergency care and treatment. Even if you are outside the plan coverage area, you can enjoy the benefits of the plan. It is less expensive compared to the other Medicare plans.

Ohio Medicare Part D covers on the drug prescription. Most of the drugs prescription is covered in this type of plan. However, there are some drugs that are not covered in this plan such as benzodiazepines, barbiturates and vitamins.

Assisted living facilities are fast becoming one of the best and most popular residential options for seniors and for individuals who require assistance with their ADLs or their activities of daily living. This is primarily because of the numerous benefits that assisted living communities for seniors are able to offer. Here are some of the benefits of staying at an assisted living facility.

1. Assisted living facilities are able to offer the assistance and supervision that an individual needs to attend to his or her daily tasks and activities. This is due to the fact that most assisted living care facilities have trained and experienced personnel who are able to assist residents in all kinds of things from preparing meals to bathing to running errands.

2. Unlike nursing homes where residents are usually confined to their rooms, assisted living facilities allow their residents to do what they want or need to do. This is great for seniors and individuals who are not too keen on the idea of having to stay in one place and being monitored all the time that they are unable to do whatever they want to do. As a matter of fact, residents of assisted living facilities are actually able to check in and out whenever they want to.

3. Many assisted living homes also have trained medical professionals available to address any medical needs that some of the residents might have. Most of these medical professionals can assist with the administration of medications as well as provide emergency medical care or attention.

4. A lot of assisted living homes also hold activities and events which encourage the residents to socialize and interact. These can include baking fairs and bingo nights.

5. They may also have a range of facilities and amenities that the residents can use for both their comfort and convenience and their enjoyment, although these are usually offered by the more luxurious assisted living facilities. Some of the amenities that may be offered by assisted living homes include swimming pools, gardens and even small shopping centers.

6. There is also a wide range of options for you to choose from as far as assisted living facilities are concerned. This means that you should be able to find a facility that would be able to provide you or your loved one with what you need at a price that you can afford. All you need to is to review and compare the services as well as the costs of assisted living facilities which you are considering and you should be able to choose that one which would suit your needs and budget.

Take the advantages of having high technology developed as part of our everyday life by playing live casino online and enjoy all the greatness of playing casino games without leaving home. Sign in and fill your deposit to play your favorite games online. For newcomers, you can also get some new bonuses when you are signing up at websites that offer you the bonuses for singing up at their websites. Check for the legitimate websites of these online casinos to make sure you get paid correctly based on what you should have gotten.

When you are living in the UK, you will know that the hustle and bustle of life can be unpredicted sometimes. Signing in for live casino UK can really give you sometimes to spend fun times near your beloved ones without having to spend your time traveling to the casino places. You can also feel more comfortable in putting in your bet since you are in the home environment where you will feel more secure. So, this is not just about gambling, but also about how you can spend your time having fun in a comfortable way through live UK casino that you can choose whatever games from many categories you can find easily online.

Although electronic cigarettes are very popular on the market, a lot of people still believe the wrong things about the available products. To help you understand more about electronic cigarettes, we are going to discuss some of the facts and frequently asked questions about electronic cigarettes in this article.

Many people still think that electronic cigarettes are expensive, more expensive than tobacco cigarettes, mainly because the price of starter kits from top suppliers is rather daunting. You can get a high quality electronic cigarette starter kit for less than $60; if you think that $60 is a lot of money, you will be surprised to know that you get refill cartridges equal to 12 packs of tobacco cigarettes with the starter kit, making it cheaper in general.

You also dont need to buy a new starter kit to continue smoking the electronic cigarette. You simply need refill cartridges, and you can get them for $18 a pack. Each pack contains 10 refill cartridges, and each cartridge is equal to 1.5 to 2 packs of tobacco cigarettes depending on the electronic cigarette brand you choose. This means you can buy 15 packs of tobacco cigarettes worth of refill cartridges for no more than $18; thats over $70 of savings instantly.

If any of your electronic cigarette parts is broken, it is very easy and affordable to get a replacement. If the broken part is covered by the manufacturers warranty, then you will get a replacement for free. You can also purchase backup charger for e-cig as well as other spare parts and accessories at a very affordable price.

As you can see, electronic cigarettes are the modern, better way to enjoy smoking sensations. They are safer to use, much more affordable compared to tobacco cigarettes, and offer better overall smoking experiences you will certainly enjoy.