Healthcare and Healthy Tips

Why Pursue Mental Health Integration?

It is the right thing to do: The NCCBH vision statement provides the foundation for our work: We are committed to creating and sustaining healthy and secure communities, achieved through a system that holds the needs of consumers paramount, regardless of their ability to pay.

Vital to this commitment is a network of organizations and advocates promoting services of unparalleled value.

NCCBH members primarily serve public sector consumers, those with severe and persistent mental illness or serious emotional disturbance-the needs of this population are often overlooked in primary care and integration planning. We must assure that their needs as well as the needs of the broader community are appropriately addressed.

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The field of medicine has made impressive advancements both in the diagnosis and treatment of most diseases. But, the soaring prices of health insurance plans make it difficult for low-income wage earners. They claim that getting a health insurance policy is out of their reach.

However, health insurance has been made mandatory by law in California. The need for health insurance both for families and individuals is critical as health insurance provides timely financial security to the insured during sudden medical emergencies. The state of California has a plethora of health insurance companies engaged in fierce competition to provide quality service to its customers. As a result the consumers are the beneficiaries as they can obtain the best plans at the most affordable prices.

Every state in the U.S. has its own health insurance regulatory board to oversee and regulate the practices of insurance providers within their jurisdiction. In the state of California, they aim to provide affordable health insurance outreach programs particularly to medium and low income wage earners. Health insurance laws in California are rigidly enforced.

The Medicaid program was created specifically for low wage earners in California to provide affordable health insurance coverage to the maximum number of uninsured individuals. This insurance outreach program is funded by both the federal and the state governments. There is yet another advantage as some employers do not include the families of employees in their insurance coverage. Such employees can avail of the Medicaid program if they want to include their families in their insurance coverage. Applicants are required to furnish some documents that may include proofs of their employment and income. They will also be subjected to a credit check to qualify.

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UnitedHealthcare, a UnitedHealth Group company, and Health Net, Inc. today announced that UnitedHealthcare has completed the previously announced acquisition of Health Net of the Northeast’s licensed subsidiaries and has obtained rights to renew Health Net’s membership in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. The transaction has received all regulatory approvals required for completion     “UnitedHealthcare has a long, successful history of providing people in the Northeast with affordable, quality health care options, and we look forward to serving the health and well-being needs of Health Net’s Northeast members as they renew with UnitedHealthcare,” said Jeff Alter, UnitedHealthcare chief executive officer, Northeast Region. “With UnitedHealthcare, Health Net’s members in the Northeast will gain access to one of the largest local and national care provider networks, robust clinical programs, proactive care management and wellness tools, and technology that simplifies and enhances the health care experience.”

“We believe UnitedHealthcare is the best option for our customers in the Northeast,” said Paul Lambdin, president of Health Net of the Northeast. “We look forward to working with UnitedHealthcare on a seamless renewal process that we believe our customers will appreciate. We will continue to maintain the high quality of service our customers have come to expect from us.”

As Health Net’s commercial customers in the Northeast reach renewal dates, UnitedHealthcare will work to enroll them in a comparable Oxford or UnitedHealthcare plan. Until members are enrolled in a replacement plan, their current Health Net benefits remain in effect under their existing Health Net contracts. There will be no interruption to coverage or payments during this transition period.

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Beliefs and Practices in Women Health

• Ramaiah Bheenaveni *

Rural women’s health is an infinitely broad topic. Many Indian women have come from circumstances in which women have limited access to healthcare. Traditionally, there has been discrimination towards women in decision-making; access to resources such as food, education and health care; job opportunities; and in child-rearing and parenting. However, women’s health in rural areas affects everything in their environment from their families to their economies and vice versa. A woman’s health, especially among the poor and illiterate, is often neglected not just by her family but by the woman herself. She is taught not to complain and if she does then she is directed either to use condiments in the kitchen or try faith healing.

Man is unique in that he has a distinct cultural environment of his own. This includes all the conditions in which men are born, brought up, live, work, procreate and perish. Culture as an environment is deeply related to the health of humans. It includes patterns of social organizations designed to regulate a particular society; one can understand the behaviour of people belonging to various sections and predict how an individual of a particular section will react in a given situation. With our knowledge of health, the treatment of diseases among ignorant peoples appears to be strange since they frequently follow practices of praying, wearing of amulets or consulting an exorcist who recites certain verbal formula. Hence, we can say that beliefs and cultural practices are predominately playing significant roles in the human health more peculiarly in the health of women.

Many rural people did not know about the services set up for them at sub-centres and PHC by the government because they did not see any evidence of these services being provided for them. As a part of the awareness programmes, the health workers (ANM) have been organizing to several exposure trips at the villages. It was there that the women were informed about the specifics of various services supposed to be made available to them. This encouraged some of them to ask questions and report on the situation in their PHC. They explained that though a nurse did visit their village it was not a daily visit, nor did she go beyond a certain point in the village, and certainly did not take a round of the village. They made a show of doing their duty by providing nominal services.

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Yoga is not a recent practice. It is a practice which through time, has developed and increased in significance and appeal worldwide. The rationale behind the appeal is greatly to do with the physical and psychological benefits experienced when integrating yoga into one’s daily schedule. Yoga can be viewed as a breath of fresh air in this fast paced lifestyle that we live in.

The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit language and means “to integrate”. Yoga promotes a harmonious working together of the body’s components leading to both physical and mental training. Despite the fact that there are numerous forms of yoga; Hatha Yoga is still presently seen as one of the more commonly practiced yoga styles. Hatha Yoga consists of non strenuous physical exercise which aids in strengthening, stretching and balancing the body’s joints. Regular breathing is performed at the same time which aids in providing oxygen to the muscles, and in turn positively affects bodily structures and organs. The awareness required during yoga practice, ensures that mind and body have to work together to create a mind-body harmony which in turn promotes healing.

Yoga will not be a quick fix for all your aches, worries and pains. However, with regular yoga practice your body will rebalance slowly and steadily, leaving you discovering the results for yourself. Physical benefits which you can anticipate are improved efficiency of the lungs, better use of your respiratory muscles, improved flexibility of the joints, improved coordination and muscle tone, maintenance of bone density, reduced risk of injury as well as the prevention of weight gain. Psychological benefits can also include an increase in self-confidence, decreased cravings for tobacco and food, better sleep, an increased ability to relax, improved concentration as well as a reduced likelihood of depression. Yoga differentiates itself from other exercises as it draws on the entire person as a whole.

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