Category: Healthy Options

Local program on resources and options for whole health. Happens on the first Wednesday of every month from 10 – 11 AM.

Healthy Options 2/6/19

Producer/Host: Rhonda Feiman
Production Assistance: Petra Hall
Studio Engineer: John Greenman

To (Hand)Shake or Not to Shake…? That is the question (and more) which host Rhonda Feiman explores with Dr. Miryam Wahrman, author of The Hand Book: Surviving in a Germ-Filled World.

Key Discussion Points:
a) What role does the immune system play in keeping us healthy, and how can we stay healthy in a “germ-filled world”?
b) Won’t our immune system take care of any infectious germs we are exposed to, and why should we wash our hands, when we have an immune system?
c) Just why IS hand washing so important, and what is the best technique for hand washing?
d) Do alcohol wipes or hand sanitizers work? Do we need hand sanitizers with anti-microbial additives?
e) Should we use anti-bacterial agents?
f) What are the risks we face when visiting a healthcare facility? What should health care providers do, to better protect themselves and their clients- and why should you not be shaking your doctor’s hands (and substitute a bow or a fist bump instead!)?

Guest:
Miryam Wahrman, Professor of Biology at William Paterson University and author of The Hand Book: Surviving in a Germ-Filled World.
The Hand Book makes the case for hand washing as a vital means to reduce the risk of infectious disease, and presents the history, religious and cultural roots of hand washing, how scientists discovered that germs cause disease, and the science behind hand hygiene. It also exposes the shocking truth that many people – including healthcare workers- do not wash properly. Professor Wahrman offers tips to improve hygiene to stay healthier at home, work, school and, most importantly, in healthcare facilities where poor hygiene can be deadly.

FMI: facebook.com/SafeHandsBook/

Healthy Options 12/5/18

Producer/Host: Rhonda Feiman
Production Assistance: Petra Hall
Studio Engineer: John Greenman

Financial health and how that relates to all aspects of our well-being.

Key Discussion Points:
a) How is financial health related to our well being?
b) What are the emotional components of financial health?
c) How do our earliest lessons about money affect us as adults?
d) What is the difference between our financial needs and wants?
e) What techniques can be used to help us work with our core financial beliefs and achieve financial safety?
f) How do we know what financial safety is?
g) What are the challenges that couples face in navigating differences in financial core beliefs?

Gues:
Ruth Hayden, Ruth L. Hayden & Associates
Nationally-recognized financial consultant, educator and author. She is one of the first financial consultants to recognize the relationship between our emotions and money. This field is now known as Behavioral Finance. ruthhayden.com

Previous Healthy Options Programs with Ruth Hayden:
archives.weru.org/healthy-options/2011/12/healthy-options-12711/
archives.weru.org/healthy-options/2006/09/healthyoptions-20060906/

Healthy Options 11/7/18

Producer/Host: Rhonda Feiman
Production Assistance: Petra Hall
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Vision Health: Vision therapy techniques to help us improve and maintain excellent vision.

Key Discussion Points:
a) What is visual health?
b) Is it inevitable that our vision deteriorates with age?
c) How does stress affect our eyesight?
e) How does our posture affect our vision?
f) Are there techniques that we can practice that can help us improve our vision?
g) What kind of research is being done that can teach us ways to improve and maintain our vision?

Guest:
Rosemary Gaddum-Gordon D.B.O., M.A.
Natural Vision Improvement
207-439-9821
visioneducators.com/rosemary-gordon

Previous Healthy Options Program with Rosemary Gaddum-Gordon:
archives.weru.org/healthy-options/2012/09/healthy-options-12512/

Healthy Options 10/3/18

Producer/Host: Rhonda Feiman
Production Assistance: Petra Hall
Studio Engineer: John Greenman

Creativity: How to maximize our imagination, productivity, and innovation

Key Discussion Points:
a) What is creativity?
b) How are our brains wired for creativity?
c) Are each of us unique in the ways our brains process information?
d) What are the different brain types and how does each type determine how we see the world and how we are creative in the world?
e) Can we learn to be creative in different ways?
f) Can we practice techniques that can assist us in expanding the range of how we process information and express ourselves?

Guest: Dr. Shelley Carson, research psychologist and lecturer at Harvard University, and the author of Your Creative Brain: Seven Steps to Maximize Imagination, Productivity, and Innovation in Your Life. www.shelleycarson.com

Healthy Options 9/5/18

Producer/Host: Rhonda Feiman
Production Assistance: Petra Hall
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

The Mind-Body Connection: How emotions and the human spirit may enhance healing

Key Discussion Points:
How can we tap into our own inner “higher vibrations” and how can that enhance healing?
What do we mean by “higher vibrations”?
What studies have been done to show the effectiveness of our own healing processes?
How do meditation and stress-reduction techniques aid in everyday health and well-being?
What are some of these techniques, and how can they be used at any time,
and to prepare for surgery and in recovery, and during serious illness?

Guest:
Peggy Huddleston is a psychotherapist, researcher and a graduate of Harvard Divinity School.
The focus of her writing and clinical work is on the ways in which emotions and the human spirit may enhance healing.
She is the author of the book, “Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster: A Guide of Mind-Body Techniques”.

Websites of Interest:
Peggy Huddleston’s website:
healfaster.com
Information on Roberto Assagioli, M.D. and Psychosynthesis:
aap-psychosynthesis.org/What-is-Psychosynthesis

Healthy Options 6/6/18

Producer/Host: Rhonda Feiman
Production Assistance: Petra Hall
Studio Engineer: John Greenman

TICKS & LYME DISEASE and other co-infections that are now being seen in Maine.

Guest: Dr. Beatrice M. Szantyr, medical advisor for MaineLyme, a non-profit dedicated to decreasing Lyme and related tick diseases in Maine. She is also a member of the State of Maine Vector-borne Disease Work Group, the Maine Medical Association, and the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS).

What new ticks have been found in Maine?
What new tick-borne illnesses have been discovered in Maine?
What are the signs and symptoms of Lyme disease?
What are the signs and symptoms of tick diseases such as anaplasmosis & ehrlichiosis?
What is a course of treatment if you have the clinical symptoms of Lyme and other tick-borne illnesses?
What can we do to prevent tick bites?
What new research has corroborated the effectiveness of permethrin as a tick repellent treatment for clothes and other items?

Websites of interest:
MaineLyme
ILADS (International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society)
Lyme Disease Association (About Lyme —great pictures of ticks and rashes)
Lymedisease.org (Formerly CALDA)
Tick Encounter Resource Center

Rhonda’s 2017 show with Dr. Bea Szantyr and Constance Dickey, RN can be found here

Other Healthy Options programs on Lyme and tick-borne illness:

Healthy Options Special 7/11/12

Healthy Options 6/3/15

Healthy Options 6/1/16

Healthy Options 6/6/12

Healthy Options 3/6/13

Healthy Options 5/2/18

Producer/Host: Rhonda Feiman
Co-Producer: Petra Hall
Studio Engineer: John Greenman

Programs offered by Maine Family Planning and OUT Maine that educate young people to make healthy sexual decisions.

Why is it necessary to educate about health sexual decisions?
What are some of the programs and information currently available in Maine?
What are the issues that are addressed in these programs?
Who can participate? Where are they offered?
Who benefits from these programs?

Guest:
Lynette Johnson, Director of Prevention Programs at Maine Family Planning, and Sue Campbell, program director at OUT Maine

Contact Info:
mainefamilyplanning.org
outmaine.org

Healthy Options 4/4/18

Producer/Host: Rhonda Feiman
Co-Producer: Petra Hall
Engineer: John Greenman

Adverse Childhood Experiences(ACES) and their effects on long term health, brain development and behavior

Key Discussion Points:
What is an Adverse Childhood Experience?
What are we learning about how these experiences effect learning and health?
How is learning effected by ACES experiences?
Are there ways to help children and adults who have experienced ACES?
How are teachers being trained to identify and work with students affected by ACES?
What programs exist in Maine to address these issues?
What is the role of Health Care workers in identifying and treating the heatlh effects of ACES?
What is Toxic Stress and how does this impact health?
What programs and information exist nationally to diagnose and treat?
What can be done to prevent ACES and promote resilience in adults and children?

Guests:
Sue Mackey Andrews co-founded and continues to serve as Co-Facilitator of the Maine Resilience Building Network (MRBN). She travels statewide sparking conversations focused on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and promoting resilience in children, families and our communities using a cross-sector, community-based approach.
She has been recognized by both the Maine Children’s Trust and the Maine Children’s Alliance for her child advocacy work, and received the ACEs Avenger Award in 2017 from the Maine Resilience-Building Network.
Sue Mackey Andrews is also the monthly host of Family Corner here on WERU, at 10 a.m., on the 4th Wednesday of each month.

Patrick Walsh retired as the Director of Prevention Services at Broadreach Family & Community Services, worked for the Knox County District Attorney’s Office as a Prosecutorial Assistant, and was Director of the Waldo County Child and Parent Council. Patrick Walsh also worked as a Victim & Witness Advocate for Waldo and Knox counties, and has been an ombudsman for the Waldo County Committee for Social Action. He has served on a number of commissions and advisory boards focused on child, youth and family safety, and currently he is facilitating the Midcoast Resilience Project.

WEBSITES OF INTEREST (for a more extensive list of resources, please contact Patrick Walsh resilience@brmaine.org )
Maine Resilience Building Network (MRBN) – www.maineaces.org
Midcoast Resilience Project on Facebook – www.facebook.com/midcoastresilienceproject/
Maine Children’s Trust – www.mechildrenstrust.org/ Working to prevent the abuse and neglect of Maine’s Children
KPJR Films – “Resilience: The Biology of Stress & The Science of Hope page – kpjrfilms.co/resilience/
Center on the Developing Child – Harvard University – developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/resilience/
“Miss Kendra” – Alive! – www.traumainformedschools.org/home.html
ACEs Too High (news) – acestoohigh.com/
ACEs Connection – www.acesconnection.com/ This website has a long list of resources and opportunity to join a “group” with similar professional interests/concerns: i.e A group to share ideas on mitigating the effects of adverse childhood experiences in the K-12 environment. www.acesconnection.com/g/aces-in-education
Futures Without Violence (Defending Childhood Initiative) – www.futureswithoutviolence.org/children-youth-teens/defending-childhood-initiative/
Lives In the Balance – the website of Dr. Ross Greene author of “The Explosive Child” and “Lost in the Classroom”, developer of the process formerly known as (Collaborative Problem Solving) now known as Creative and Proactive Solutions. www.livesinthebalance.org/
National Child Traumatic Stress Network – nctsnet.org/