| Link to Recent Re:activation Blog Posts: |
| March 16, 2012 A KISS to Make it Better: A Two Step Model of Behavior Change
Why is it the more educated we become the more complicated we make things?
I was facilitating a Motivational Interviewing [MI] group the other
day and during a discussion on the 5A's, the topic of Prochaska and
DiClemente's Transtheoretical model [TTM] came up; specifically the
stages of change. This got the entire group thinking about the
complexities of behavior change and the most prolific model we use to
describe it...click here to read more. February 3, 2012 The Pros and Cons of Patient Portals: Can Integrated Electronic Health Records Help Empower Patients? Providers spend a
significant amount of time with patients problem solving
effective ways to manage chronic health issues. Through the use of
Motivational Interviewing for example, providers focus on increasing
patient self efficacy; "how do I guide this patient
in owning their own health?".
With the rapid grown of Health
Information
Technology (HIT) I'm optimistic that HIT, specifically the use of
patient
portals, will provide more tools for not only improving patient
satisfaction and reducing costs, but also in addressing another real
issue in healthcare: Increasing patient autonomy...click here to read more
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October 13, 2011
Talk About Situational Stress: Multigenerational Living is on the Rise | My
two sons attend a daycare in the same building as a nursing home which
has a multigenerational program integrating the wee tots with the
geriatric populations. They pass the time singing songs, playing games
and I’m sure, laughing at each other’s idiosyncrasies. My wife and I
purposefully chose this daycare for this reason. We felt that there,
both the young and the old had a lot to offer one another and that it
would be a wonderful learning experience for our two young boys who
unfortunately do not live near either set of their grandparents...click her to read more
| July 7, 2011
What Collaborative Care Can Learn From Chaos
A client once told me, "Humans pray for outcomes and God laughs. Now that’s chaos”
Chaos
Theory is paradoxical; sort of like when you see an object clearer in
the dark when you don’t stare directly at it. Chaos theory for me
reminds me of this concept. It comes more into focus the less and less I
try to figure it out. The mathematics behind chaos theory are
extremely abstract and difficult to conceptualize and I’ll be the first
to admit quite frankly they are way over my head. That being said, in
my interpretation the basic premise is simple: We need not waste time
seeking control of a system, instead we seek order within the system...click here to read more
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May 12, 2011
Goodbye Old Friend, I've Known You Far Too Long
We are all aware of the dangers of smoking. Yet the CDC reports that in the United States over 46 million people (20.6%) over the age of eighteen and 2.7 million (17%) of all high school students are current smokers. Out of the 46 million adult smokers, the CDC reports that over 40% of them tried to quit in the past year. The implication here is that to some degree they wanted to quit, but were unable to to actually stop smoking. It is hard, very hard, to separate oneself from the addictive nature of nicotine....Click here to read more.
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July 21, 2010
Who's The Boss of Me?
Good Question. A few weeks back my
almost three year old son and I were looking at a poster of the 8
planets. After reviewing the names together it was his turn to try
solo. He began with the sun then to the subsequent planets--pointing to
each one he said "Mercury, Venus, Earf, Mars, Jupatewr, Saturn, Myanus,
and Neptewn”. I offered him encouragement for his job well done and of
course just one correction…”Isn’t it Uranus” I asked him with a slight
grin. "No it’s mine Papa!” he insisted. At that point I could not help
but appreciate what ownership he had of his body. Later, I asked my
wife "At what point do we lose that ownership”?....Click here to read more
| February 8, 2010
Listening is Good Medicine
The
National Day of Listening happens every year, the day after Thanksgiving. I know it was a while back but due to both a
past cfha.net blog and
a recent patient encounter I began thinking about this concept again. This year during National Day of Listening, I
chose to interview my father. He has
lived a fulfilling life in his 78 years. When we sat down to kick the "interview” off he, with sincere curiosity,
asked "You are not doing this because you think I’m going to die are you”? After I debunked this myth of his, we
proceeded. With a digital recorder on
the table, we sat and talked over coffee for about two hours. My entire life, I have had a great
communicative relationship with my father but something was different this
time. This time my sole intent was just
to listen, nothing else. I had no intentions, no predispositions, no
expectations, just open ears. I learned a lot about my father that day that I
had never known before...Click her to read more
| January 11, 2010
How to Make A New Year's Resolution 101
During New Year's Day the media was so inundated with Resolution
oriented commercials you could almost see the affirming banners of
declaration whizzing by your head--"Quit smoking now" or "Lose that
weight you always wanted to" were repeated ad-nauseum. Although the
barrage was inexorable, there was good reason for the timing of it
all-to take advantage of a state of readiness; regardless of how
fleeting it may be. Everyone has good intentions around this time of
year, what we need help with is follow-through. And now that we are
into the second week of the New Year I thought it would be good to check
in on the progress...Click here to read more
| November 19, 2009
Smoking Cessation in Primary Care
The facts regarding the pernicious nature of smoking, second
and third hand smoke (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-is-third-hand-smoke) are
abundant and clear. Tobacco use is
the leading cause for preventable morbidity and mortality and quitting
is the
number one thing our patients can do to better their health. The
problem: tobacco is extremely addictive. Back in the 80’s C. Everett
Koop declared
tobacco "as addictive as heroin and cocaine”. For many reasons an
integrated primary care setting is an excellent
place to help patients end their nicotine addiction.Although I have owned the
book for years, I most recently rediscovered and read Coyote Medicine a book by Lewis Mehl-Madrona, M.D., Ph.D. What a fantastic read. To my pleasant surprise, just yesterday, I
found out that the author will be presenting at the CFHA conference in San
Diego CA this October 2009...Click here to read more
| October 11, 2009
Psychiatric Consultation in Primary Care
I have been fortunate enough to be part of the nascent
stages of two integrated primary care programs. In both programs efforts to create a useful psychiatric consultation
program were made. The goal: To provide psychiatric consultation to the
primary care providers regarding the care of patients presenting with co-occurring
medical and mental health issues. An
expected result of this process was a reduced level of provider apprehension
regarding the prescription of psychopharmaceuticals....Click here to read more
| September 21, 2009
Mental Health vs. Behavioral Health?
In a past CBC blog there was a brief discussion around the
difference between "Collaborate and Integrate”. Although to some it may
only appear to be an issue of semantics, to others there is a need to create
consistent definitions in our profession. A reliable discourse within our profession could facilitate the relay of
ideas concerning policy, process and practice...Click here to read more
| June 9, 2009
Coyote Medicine
Although
I have owned the
book for years, I most recently rediscovered and read Coyote Medicine a
book by Lewis Mehl-Madrona, M.D., Ph.D. What a fantastic read. To my
pleasant surprise, just yesterday, I
found out that the author will be presenting at the CFHA conference in
San
Diego CA this October 2009...Click here to read more
|
Peter
Fifield is an integrated Behavioral Health
Consultant at Families First Health and Support Center; an FQHC in
Portsmouth NH. In his off time he is the Managing Editor of CFHA Blog
and makes all attempts to keep up with his wife and two sons.
|
Blog DisclaimerThe
view expressed in the blogs and comments should be understood as the
personal opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the
opinions and views of the Collaborative Family Healthcare Association
(CFHA). No information on this blog will be understood as official.
CFHA offers this blog site for individuals to express their personal and
professional opinions regarding their own independent activities and
interests.
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