Health

by Laura Sorenson, Veterans Memorial Hospital Social Worker
 
Social workers perform a variety of roles, but their primary job is to connect members of the community with resources that may be beneficial to them. Specifically, a hospital social worker works as a discharge planner to help elderly or disabled patients arrange in-home services in an effort for them to remain in their own homes as long as possible. These services may include home health care where nursing and physical therapists come to your home, home-delivered meals, as well as bathing assistance, and housekeeping/shopping services.

by Jill Fleming and Brandy Strub, Registered Dietitians, Veterans Memorial Hospital

In today’s fast-paced society, with people eating on the run and not planning ahead, eating has become a mindless act. Distractions have shifted our attention away from the actual act of eating towards televisions, computers and smart-phones. This can be problematic, since it takes your brain up to 20 minutes to realize you’re full.

When we are dividing our attention, we usually eat faster and often overeat. If you eat too fast, the fullness signal may not arrive until you have already eaten too much. This is one of the contributing factors to our obesity crisis today.

The next LifeServe Blood Center blood drive will be held Monday, April 3 from 12-5 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in south Waukon.  The LifeServe Blood Center supplies Veterans Memorial Hospital with blood and blood products. Here are some interesting blood facts:

• Every three seconds someone needs blood.
• Blood makes up about eight percent of a person’s body weight.
• Blood is needed every minute of every day; summer, winter, spring and fall.
• Scheduled surgeries are not canceled in Iowa because of a lack of blood, but it is a problem in other parts of the nation.
• Donating blood includes a health check for the donor (checking blood pressure, pulse, temperature and hemoglobin) prior to donating.
• There is absolutely no way you can contract any disease from giving blood.
• Blood can be split into different components (red cells, platelets, plasma, and cryoprecipitate) and used to help different types of patients.

Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Speech-Language Pathologist Steven Mazzafield is now offering a Stroke Support Group for individuals who have experienced a stroke, as well as caregivers and family members affected by stroke. The next Stroke Support Group meeting will be held Thursday, April 6 at 2 p.m. in the ICN Conference Room. Future meetings will be held the first Thursday of every month at 2 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Hospital.

The Stoke Support Group provides opportunities to share tips, tricks or trials among participants, offer support for caregivers, and provide an opportunity for socialization.

While strokes can happen at any age, risk of stroke is greatest as we get older with the majority of strokes occurring after the age of 70. Risk factors for stroke include obesity, sedentary lifestyle, binge drinking, diabetes, smoking, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.

Veterans Memorial Hospital will sponsor the next Babysitting Seminars Friday, April 7.  This class will be broken down into two different sessions with a morning session held from 9 a.m. to Noon and an afternoon session from 1-4 p.m.  The same information will be taught at both sessions, so students can sign-up for one session or the other. A total of 20 students will be taken in each session.

Both classes will be held in the Large Conference Room located on the lower level of Veterans Memorial Hospital.

Intended participants are individuals 10 years of age and older who are responsible for their own care after school until their parents come home from work, and individuals who care for other children in or outside of their own home. Girls and boys are welcome and encouraged to attend. Topics covered include fire and personal safety, accident prevention and emergency actions, nutritious snacks and basic care of children.

Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) will be offering Grandparenting Classes again this spring. Corinne Cook, RN, Babysitting Class instructor, will teach the next Grandparenting Class Saturday, April 15 from 9:30 a.m. until Noon. The class will be held in the hospital’s Large Conference Room. In these classes, new or soon-to-be grandparents will learn all the new protocols to use when caring for their new grandchild. Some topics covered will include basic baby care, car seat safety, Tylenol/Ibuprofen dosing charts, home safety, poison control information, infant/child CPR, choking and other emergency medical information, as well as tips to support parents such as handling the baby blues and postpartum depression.  Free-will donations will be accepted to cover the costs of the class.

The local Grief Support Group will be holding its monthly meeting at Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Tuesday, April 11 at 5 p.m. in the Meditation Healing Center, located just inside the main entrance of the hospital.

This informal meeting is open to anyone suffering from any type of loss whether it be death, divorce, illness or some other grief.

Feel free to attend and bring a friend. This grief support meets the second Tuesday of each month at Veterans Memorial Hospital.

Colon cancer can be easily prevented, yet it remains the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. Colon cancer screening tests identify suspicious or pre-cancerous polyps, which can be removed before they develop into a serious health problem.  

There are four main testing options for detecting colon cancer: fecal occult blood test, flexible sigmoidoscopy, barium enema and colonoscopy. Colonoscopies, a very thorough colon cancer test, are performed routinely in the Veterans Memorial Hospital surgical suite with this equipment, and typically take just three hours from start to finish.

Both men and women are at risk for colon cancer.  Personal risk varies, so a patient’s local medical practitioner can help them make informed decisions about when to begin testing and the most appropriate testing method for them.

Pulsara is the new communication system being used by the Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Ambulance staff for fast, quality patient condition updates.   Pulsara allows the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) staff to alert the hospital staff as to the cares needed by the emergency patient so they can best prepare for their arrival at the hospital.

The Pulsara system is a secure, two-way form of communication that can share real-time updates through video, sound recordings, messaging and pictures. The system calls staff in more quickly for the tests they may need at night, such as X-ray, Anesthesia, Lab, etc., all through the use of a cell phone or iPad.  Pulsara is a free, HIPAA-compliant communication platform that bypasses the user’s internal phone memory to ensure the security of all data transferred through the app-based program.

by Jill Fleming, RD/LD, and Brandy Strub, RD/LD, VMH Dietitians

Each year, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics celebrates the month of March as National Nutrition Month. The focus of this campaign is to help you make informed food choices and encourage healthy lifestyle habits. Ideally, you will be reducing your risk of chronic disease and enjoying optimal health.

Since there are so many different diets being talked about in the media, knowing which one is the best can be confusing. Should you avoid all carbohydrates?  Do you need to count calories?  Should you eat six small meals daily or eat only once per day?