Integral Education: The CIIS Blog

CIIS Professor Meg Jordan to Speak at Prestigious Wellness Summit in Aspen

Professor Meg Jordan, chair of the Integrative Health Studies program at CIIS, will speak at the prestigious invitation-only Global Wellness & Spa Summit in Aspen, Colo., from June 3-6, 2012.

The theme of the summit for 2012 is, "Innovation through Imagination." The title of Jordan's talk is, "Why Lifestyle Improvement is Not About Willpower."

"Some of the greatest innovations in the art and science of behavior change have finally put to rest old ideas about ironclad discipline and willpower," Jordan says. She will discuss how, over the last five years, there has been a quantum leap in the understanding of how our brains operate. Those findings have migrated to coaching models used by Fortune 100 companies.

"However, the health care system  still labors under outdated health education models," Jordan says. She reports that four big ideas—neuroscience, addiction studies, social ranking behavior, and creative processing—are woven into the best practices of health coaching.

Graduate students in the Integrative Health Studies MA program also earn a certificate in Integrative Wellness Coaching, and benefit from practical application of these "four big ideas."

Other speakers at the summit include John Kao, author of Innovation Nation; Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper; former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona; and Costa Rican President Jose Maria Figueres.

Integrative Health Studies Chair Meg Jordan Publishes Article in Anthropology News

Integrative Health Studies Chair Meg Jordan, PhD, has published a new article, "Fast Track to Health, Wellbeing and Happiness," which today came out in the print version of Anthropology News. The article details the emerging profession of health coaches.

Read the online version of this article >>

New Research Takes Slight Increases in Blood Pressure Seriously

By MEG JORDAN, professor and chair of the Integrative Health Studies Department. She is a clinical medical anthropologist, behavioral health RN, author, and international lecturer.

I was always in the camp that considered the less medical intervention, the better, especially when it came to blood pressure readings that were a little above the ideal. It was easy to accuse Big Pharma of simply pulling off one more marketing ploy to get millions more on anti-hypertensive drugs when new recommendations came out to consider treatment for "prehypertension."

Hypertension (same thing as high blood pressure) is diagnosed when the pressure across the arterial walls increases beyond an optimal level. This number has increased over the past decade as research indicated that pre-hypertensive levels would benefit from earlier pharmaceutical management. Before the mid-1990s, a blood pressure of 140/90 was considered on the high end of normal, but not worthy of drug treatment.

Normal is 120/80. Prehypertension is a systolic of 120-139, and a diastolic between 80-89. But it's hard to argue with a well-conducted study by the CDC that is reporting a rise in strokes, especially in the under-50 age groups and in children.

In addition, a University of California, San Diego, study looked at over one-half million records, and concluded that individuals with this slightly higher reading (prehypertensives) had a significantly higher risk of strokes—by almost 50 percent. That is troubling indeed. For most folks walking around with a blood pressure of 139/89, they have no idea that their pressure is high. No obvious symptoms send you running for a check-up or blood pressure reading.

What causes high blood pressure? Any number of risk factors have been implicated, from physical inactivity, metabolic syndrome, obesity/overweight, kidney disease, family history, advanced age, to one of the more serious risk factors—smoking. Some of these risk factors such as obesity make the heart work harder, pumping circulation around more miles of adipose and body mass. A build of plaque in the coronary arteries is blamed for narrowing the pipes, also increasing pressure. Cigarette smoking is implicated with arteriosclerosis or hardening of the arterial walls. As the wall become less flexible, the pressure builds up.

Inadequate Health Insurance Translates to More Emergencies: When Research Hits Home

By MEG JORDAN, PhD, RN, CWP, program chair and core faculty, Integrative Health Studies program. Meg is also a clinical medical anthropologist and editor in chief of American Fitness Magazine

If you don’t have health insurance, you are 40 percent more likely to die than those with private insurance. But what’s the risk if you’re among the growing numbers of underinsured? Although the statistics aren't available, the everyday reality is that insurance policies with inadequate coverage can be just as bad.

As a university professor in the health sciences, I give many talks, nationally and internationally, on the state of health care in the U.S. Just this week I was scheduled to present at the National Wellness Institute on the status of health coaching in the U.S. An emerging profession dedicated to helping people turnaround unhealthy habits, health and wellness coaches are part of the solution to our nation's rising medical costs. So far, they're outside the reimbursement system of health insurance, but I'm on a national team of leaders and educators hoping to reverse that.

I've also argued long and hard that true reform of an ailing sick care system requires both individual commitment to change (since almost half of all health care costs relate to personal behavior) and supportive policy change and overhaul within public and private sectors.

Today that argument came home with a forceful reality. My firstborn, a college graduate who works two jobs, seven days per week, in order to pay off massive student loans and afford her rent in Denver, pays a large co-pay premium every month (over $350) at her meager $10-an-hour job as a pastry chef at a major four-star hotel. The health insurance offered by the hotel is so inadequate, she and her co-workers wind up foregoing reasonable medical care in order to avoid paying inordinate out-of-pocket expenses. Studies confirm that people will ration their own needed health care when faced with high deductibles.

But her policy is among the more ridiculous, and for some reason rejects all gynecological expenses. As a result, a 28-year-old young woman with a troublesome IUD decides she can't afford the routine check with at an OB/Gyne office, after hearing that she will be charged about $500 cash upfront in order to have it removed. ("Sorry, we checked with your policy and they don't cover gyne.")

So what is the end result of systems like this? People don't get the care they need, and they are shoved along a continuum from prevention to crisis. My daughter had sudden pelvic pain two weeks ago, and wound up in an emergency department, where they made a decision to not do an ultrasound since "her insurance probably wouldn't cover it."

She limps back to work, holding her gut together, only to have the problem exacerbate. Today the pain was excruciating and again, she left work, barely making it to an ER. Internal hemorrhage was noted and she was rushed into exploratory surgery.

She had a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, one of the risks of certain IUDs, that required removal of the fallopian tube, and major clean-up of a pelvis filled with blood. Heavy doses of pain medication given in the ER complicated the amount of anesthesia needed for surgery; more problems ensued with overdose and nausea, creating a challenge for intubation.

In short, she joins the ranks of Americans who face crisis upon crisis, undergo tremendous pain and suffering, and incur huge costs—all because they don't receive preventive health care.

Who's to blame for this?

As a mother, I can practice tough love, and tell her she alone is accountable for choosing to work at this hotel, for selecting a lower-cost insurance that allowed her to take home slightly more in her paycheck, and for not taking out a loan in order to see a doctor earlier. Or, I could beat myself up for not making sure she had the cash she needed. However, she was fed up with asking her parents for help—a common situation for many late 20-somethings who struggle to be independent in this economy.

Being responsible for her choices aligns with the argument posed by conservative voices in Washington, D.C.: Our systems of entitlement require analysis and radical reduction. Absolutely.

Then another lesson at home kicks in. My brother, the insurance expert, taught me that all insurance works via the leveled waters of pooled risk. We each pay a little something so that both reasonable care of the near-healthy and crisis care of those in need can be managed. When non-participation by large numbers of people or unmitigated profit and payments to Wall Street throw that trusted model of pooled risk out of balance, insurance systems will fail to cover people adequately.

Another example—bear with me—this time with a former husband, a die-hard Republican, who railed against how "government can't do anything right." He suffered with a slipped disc for a year in the U.S. but couldn't work through a maze of barriers to see a specialist, and then was laid off and without any health coverage.

We moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, for a work opportunity for me, and within four weeks of arriving, two medical care cards arrived in the mail, along with a bill for $50 per month each. He complained about the bill, of course—here we were in "socialist Canada"—now without a choice, being forced to contribute.

I made a call to a clinic that day, expecting to have to wait six months for a Pap smear, like I did in Northern California, only to be told—"No, you can get one today. Just walk in any provincial medical clinic. You'll see one every few kilometers in Vancouver. No appointment necessary. Just bring your medical care card." I did. When I went to the desk to hand over the co-pay, the clerk didn't even understand what I was offering. No payment required.

When I told my husband what happened, he decided to test the system, and called for an appointment with a neurologist. He saw him in a week, and had an MRI the next week. He came home saying he was "rather floored—nobody at the hospital asked for any money." The end result? He continued to boast about America's greatness, but watched FOX news a little less. He also got help to change his diet and exercise more, and saw their physiotherapist once a week, alleviating the back pain.

Now we've all heard endless stories about the long waits and inferior care of these so-called "socialized medicine" systems in countries such as the United Kingdom and Canada. But any actuarial will tell you the basic requirements of large systems. Research shows how a universal system of coverage for a basic level of care is the right financial (and moral) decision for a progressive society.

I also know that a natural migration toward a hierarchy of care (tiers of wealth and privilege) will inevitably manifest. But I can live with that, as long as we offer a basic care for everyone. When everybody is in the pool, the cost comes down to $50 per month. When fewer participate, individual cost burden is higher. I feel like we need Ross Perot with his white board right now to explain this to Americans who have been dumbed down by ignorant political sound bytes.

Universal coverage addresses sick care. Preventive care is another matter. Arguments have been made that there are not enough dollars within pooled systems to cover the screening and preventive health services, but those arguments need to be nailed within the coffin of outdated, unproven old fears.

Spend a little time at prevent.org.

The Partnership for Prevention is a coalition of business, nonprofit and government leaders working together to make sound and reasonable evidence-based models of health promotion the national norm. The number of publications and resources available today on how and why prevention is our only solution is astounding.

I'm probably an unusual voice in their pack, since I want to see both this modicum level of care (universal coverage) for everyone, and a robust system of disease prevention, health promotion and wellness initiatives in place. But after spending time with my colleagues at the National Wellness Institute, I know we're capable of both quality sick care and extraordinary wellness incentives for individuals, businesses and communities to go the extra measure.

Our nation's health depends upon it. My daughter's life does as well.

How Potassium Iodide Can Protect You in a Nuclear Emergency

By MEG JORDAN, chair of the Integrative Health Studies program, and NEIL FREESE, online content editor

As containment efforts are hampered by an array of setbacks and malfunctions, the fate of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was critically damaged during last week’s devastating earthquake and tsunami, has become increasingly uncertain.

While the potential for a full-scale meltdown at one or more of the power plant’s six nuclear reactors remains, it’s important to remember that catastrophe is not a foregone conclusion. We should remain calm as the situation unfolds and be wary of misinformation.

Nevertheless, should a worst-case scenario become reality, it’s possible that nuclear fallout could affect California. There are no failsafe ways to protect yourself from excessive radiation, but you should consider stocking potassium iodide capsules or scored tablets in your medicine cabinet.

A little background: During a nuclear accident, radioactive iodine can be released into the air. Radioactive iodine can enter your body through ingestion or inhalation, and is absorbed by the thyroid gland.

Potassium iodide is a supplement that, as mentioned above, can be taken as a capsule or tablet. Potassium iodide blocks the uptake of radioactive iodine by the thyroid. Potassium iodide supplements do not, however, prevent radioactive atoms from entering your body.

You should only take the potassium iodide supplement if the health department issues a warning that radioactive exposure is imminent. The recommended dose is one 130 mg tablet per day. 

We've just checked with Vitamin Shoppe and three other retailers, and not surprisingly, there are sold out. There are still some reliable online stores. We recommend Life Extension.

RESOURCES:

Learn about radiation protection, and specifically about radioactive iodine, from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency >>

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s emergency preparedness and response wesbite has a lot of useful information on potassium iodide >>

Protecting yourself in a nuclear emergency with potassium iodide >>

Integrative Health and the Health Care Law: An Interview with Dr. Meg Jordan

By BRYNN SAITO, program coordinator for the Department of Writing, Consciousness, and Creative Inquiry

“There’s an expanded consciousness operating, one that includes both health and self-care,” says Meg Jordan, department chair and professor of Integrative Health Studies at CIIS. Such consciousness is also affecting the nation’s health care policy, as evidenced by the five clauses directly addressing preventative and integrative health in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law in March of 2010.

Although Jordan is optimistic about the language of the law, she’s concerned about implementation. “They don’t have strategies yet, for implementing integrative health standards,” she says. Which is why CIIS is part of a summit of schools—including Harvard’s Institute of Lifestyle Medicine, the University of Minnesota, and Duke University—committed to devising concrete strategies for implementing holistic care, in line with new national standards.

“Health coaches are a key strategy for lifestyle turnaround,” Jordan says.  “The medical landscape is highly hierarchical and inaccessible, and a health coach can occupy the first line of partnership with a patient. It’s a de-stigmatized role. I may not feel comfortable talking to a doctor or a psychotherapist, but I can talk to a health coach.” 

Recently, the U.S. Surgeon General has tasked the four-school summit with devising a plan to create a national exam for health coach certification. But, as we’ve seen in recent months, the future of the health care law is uncertain. On February 2 the Republican-led effort to repeal the law ended in defeat, with a 47-51 vote in the U.S. Senate.  It’s now in the hands of the Supreme Court, and has become a hot political item in the run-up to the 2012 elections. 

Still, a fundamental question remains: What, in this country, is driving the resistance to universal health coverage? Jordan doesn't have an answer. But as a medical anthropologist who surveys health care systems across the world, she has noticed a pattern: “There are two countries that stand out with the best health outcomes and the greatest life longevity. And those also happen to be the two countries that have the smallest gap between the rich and the poor.” 

Health equity and wealth equity are related, Jordan says.  “When we take care of everyone, we all tend have a better health outcome.  When we take care of the top 1%, then we see everyone in the country suffer.”  Even those who can afford expensive, high-tech care are receiving it within a system filled with uninsured individuals with debilitating injuries, preventable diseases, and chronic illnesses.

But beyond all of the political debates and controversies, the real shift in health management, notes Jordan, must come from within. Optimum health requires self-care thinking. “It’s up to you, within a culture of support, to tap into your own holistic self-care practices," she says.

Jordan has witnessed substantial growth in the number of students receiving degrees at CIIS in Integrative Health Studies, with 98% of those graduating now employed in health and wellness professions. This gives her hope. Perhaps in the midst of all of the political wrangling about health care, the necessary attitude is one that promotes empowerment and sustains community.  “We’re going to be healthy,” says Jordan, “and it’s up to us.”  

Twelve Paths to Healthier Living

By MEG JORDAN, chair of the Integrative Health Studies program

#1: Omega 3's are Essential to Your Health
From cardiovascular health to brain health to vision health, the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids are significant. The best food sources are fish, especially mackerel, sardines, and salmon. In fact, the American Heart Association recommends that adults with no history of heart disease eat at least two servings of fish per week. Omega-3s are also found in some seeds and nuts, like flax seed and walnuts. The body does not manufacture omega-3s, and typical American diets may be low in them, supplements are often recommended.

Flax seeds are a good source of Omega 3 fatty acids.
Photo by Alisha Vargas.

#2: The Antioxidant Advantage
Harmful chemicals known as free radicals can cause cell damage and may contribute to cancer and heart disease. Produced by your body or found in pollution, free radicals cause damage that accumulates with age. Fortunately, help is available in the form of antioxidants--compounds that fight free radicals. Vitamins C, E, and A, as well as selenium, lutein, and flavonoids are just a few types of antioxidants. Make certain you have an ample supply: Strive for a balanced diet that includes 5-8 servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Other good sources include green tea, whole grains, and nuts.

#3: Stop Using Brazilian Blowout Solution
Striving for straight and sleek? Steer clear of Brazilian Blowout Solution. Available at salons across the U.S., this hair smoothing treatment contains unacceptable levels of the known irritant formaldehyde. Although permitted in cosmetics at less than 0.2 percent as a preservative, formaldehyde is linked to cancer in humans when inhaled chronically over a long period of time. Consumers and stylists have complained of burning eyes, nose and throat, breathing difficulties, and even hair loss after using this product.

#4: Treating SAD with Light Therapy
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that afflicts many Americans each year during fall and winter. Not everyone has SAD, but those who do may want to consider a light therapy box for treatment. The light from a light box mimics outdoor light, causing a chemical change in the brain that lifts your mood.

In clinical trials at Columbia University, 75 percent of participants showed major improvement of depressive symptoms.
 Some SAD sufferers reported improvement by spending more time in the sun. For most, however, the strongest therapeutic effect requires exposure to artificial bright light for approximately 30 minutes. Looking at the light is not recommended. Treatment consists of sitting close to the light box and concentrating on activities illuminated by the light.

Photo courtesy of SAD Light Boxes UK.

#5: Raising Awareness of Oral Cancer
A new survey conducted by the British Dental Health Foundation reveals “an alarming lack of awareness” about the causes and symptoms of mouth and throat cancer. One person in 10 claimed to have never heard of the condition.

The National Cancer Institute estimates that in 2010 more than 36,000 new cases of oral cancer were diagnosed in the United States and that nearly 8,000 people died as a result of the disease. Because survival rates increase dramatically with early detection, learn and watch for symptoms: a red or white patch in the mouth, unusual lumps. Remember that prevention is key: quit smoking, reduce alcohol consumption, enjoy a healthy diet, brush and floss teeth daily, and see a dental or health professional for regular screenings.

#6: Accelerated Aging in Obese Children
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate of childhood obesity in the U.S. has more than tripled in the past 30 years. Poor nutrition and inactivity are responsible for increased health risks in obese children: heart disease, high blood pressure, Type 2 Diabetes.

In a recent study, Dr. Kevin Harris, from BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver, evaluated 63 obese children and found aortic stiffness, a condition typically associated with aging and an indicator of cardiovascular disease and early death. Researchers are working to determine if improved diet and exercise will reverse such adverse changes to the health of obese children.

#7: Andropause: The Male Version of Menopause
Nutritional expert Brad King's new book, "Beer Belly Blues," is a must-read for all men concerned with their health. It's filled with fascinating facts about how the aging process affects men. For example, by age 60 men typically produce 60 percent less testosterone than they did at age 20. Mortality rates are 88 percent higher in men with low testosterone compared with men who have normal testosterone levels. King offers expert knowledge and strategy to increase the body's natural production of testosterone.

#8: Teens and Prescription Drug Abuse
In recent surveys teens report that prescription drugs are easier to buy than beer. Even more alarming is the news that 20 percent of students in grades 9 through 12 nationwide have taken prescription drugs, without a prescription, one or more times. Parents are concerned and rightly so: it's easier to use prescription drugs than abuse cocaine, hallucinogens, and heroin combined.

When celebrities like Lindsay Lohan misuse prescription drugs, they gain media attention and become “bad” role models. There is a very real connection between this modeling and the national epidemic. As a parent, you can deal constructively with the connection: learn the warning signs and symptoms of addiction. Then bravely broach the subject.

#9: A Healthy Sex Life at Any Age
Middle-aged and older adults don't accept the myth that “Sex is only for young people,” according to a recent AARP study. The body changes with age and so does sexuality. Declining hormone levels for both men and women may lead to sexual challenges later in life, such as erectile dysfunction and vaginal dryness. The good news is that a wide array of medical treatments and nutritional supplements are available to treat these conditions today. Your sex life after 50 may be more sedate than it was when you were 20. But the physical changes of aging may provide an incentive to develop a new and satisfying style of lovemaking.

#10: Healthy Living Reduces Risk of Colorectal Cancer
According to Danish researchers, 23 percent colorectal cancer deaths could be prevented if people followed five simple lifestyle recommendations.
 Specifically, the Danish Cancer Society in Copenhagen advises:

• At least 30 minutes of exercise daily
• No more than seven drinks a week for women and 14 for men
• No smoking
• A healthful diet: high in fiber, more than six servings a day of fruits and vegetables, low in red meat and processed meat, less than 30 percent of calories from fat
• Waist size no more than 34.6 inches for women and 40.1 inches for men.

#11: Substitute Whole Grains for Refined Grains
A recent study of more than 2,800 men and women from ages 32 to 83 suggests that eating whole grains rather than refined grains helps to reduce a harmful type of body fat. The fat that is associated with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and insulin resistance was approximately 10 percent lower in adults who ate three or more daily servings of whole grains and less than one daily serving of refined grains. Tufts University scientists stressed the importance of substituting whole grains for refined grains, rather than simply adding whole grain foods to the diet. For example, use brown rice instead of white. Make a sandwich with whole grain bread instead of white.  

Photo courtesy of veganbaking.net.

#12: Going Off Antidepressants
I get asked a lot how someone can get off antidepressants. First, talk to your physician or therapist. Then slowly lower the dose, with their supervision. Abruptly stopping an antidepressant can cause a number of physical and emotional problems, such as nausea, dizziness, and sleep disturbances. Make a plan: It's a good idea to reduce your dose in increments, allowing two to six weeks or more between dose reductions. Other techniques include pill cutting and using a liquid antidepressant formulation. Your doctor or therapist will advise you. Seek support. Stay in touch with your clinician and report any physical or emotional symptoms. Be sure to check in one month after you've stopped.

An End to Bullying and Medical Hubris: Two Sad Reports, Cut from the Same Cloth

By Dr. Meg Jordan, PhD, RN, CWP, Global Medicine Hunter

It's with great sadness that I read the news this past week. The reports of Guatemalans intentionally infected with venereal disease by U.S. government health researchers in the mid-1940s disgusts all of us. I am grateful to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for publicly apologizing to the Guatemalan president and making amends. Who knows how much suffering this act of medical hubris (life-threatening testing on "brown skin people who live elsewhere") has caused? There is an undertone of Tuskegee running through this Guatemalan study, although stark differences occur.

For one thing, the 600-plus Guatemalans who were encouraged to sleep with infected prostitutes (and when that didn't infect some, had pathogens scratched into their skin) were supposedly treated, although no documentation about the success of that treatment is available. For all we know, STDs were passed on to spouses, other adults, and children while disability and premature death ensued.

The other act is of course one more in a dreadful series: another suicide of a young queer person who succumbed to relentless cyber-bullying and harassment. Speak out, act out, make a stance however and wherever you can against such acts of hatred and discrimination, subtle and obvious, of a similar nature. Fill the blogs and live by example to transform culture now.

Just as Maslow mapped out a hierarchy of needs, there is a similar hierarchy of well-being in which societies can flourish: First, safety, then tolerance, then acceptance, finally on to celebration of diversity.

As a medical anthropologist, I chronicle how societies transform themselves from bastions of brutality to beacons of social justice, once we teach ourselves and others how to thrive in an atmosphere of safety.  Next, we become accustomed to a safe environment, and grow to understand how tolerating what we don't understand, but tolerating it anyway, brings an added measure of  health.

However, tolerance is not ideal, it's dismissive and coated in superiority. Societies must move from tolerance to wider acceptance in order to further their own goals of mutual respect and shared progress.

Finally, a stage of moving from acceptance to celebration requires that we no longer simply tolerate or accept diversity, we highlight it as life-affirming, rich with interest, strength and excitement. These matured societies are also marked by a commitment to ensuring none of its members suffer from vast health or income disparities that drag down the society as a whole. 

Unfortunately, we have some stark examples in the U.S. just this past week that our society is nowhere near this level of acceptance or diversity. For that matter, I wonder if we've slid from past gains in previous decades where tolerance was the goal.

There is something heinous about elements in our society which fester cyber-bullying and harassment of children of difference, and also work to dismantle the Affordable Health Care Act, which finally removed the ability of insurance companies to deny children with pre-existing conditions.

These acts are cut from the same cloth: one of fear, laced with greed and reactionary, ignorant hatred.
But there is also a rising hue and cry among those who were formerly in a trance by the economic downturn, wondering where our own safe landing may occur among financial sharks and health care bullies.

There really is no safety for all of us if there is none for the weakest among us.

Stand together and shake off the icy chill that descends when we encounter these dreadful acts.

• Safeguard a child who shows signs of being "different."
• Voice your insistence that health care is a right.
• Make a stand against indifference of medical testing on people of color, people on distant shores, those assumed to be of less worth so that we can somehow use them as guinea pigs in unethical, inhumane manner. It still continues with vaccine testing and will continue by those with an eye on profits versus well-being of the whole, not the few.

Do You Need a Wellness Coach to Lose Weight?

By Meg Jordan, PhD, RN, CWP, Chair and Professor, Integrative Health Studies

Some new research from StayWell Health Management, supports the notion that it takes a village (or at least a coach) to make the kind of lifestyle change that most people say they want, but can’t seem to accomplish. Pariticpants who completed a telephone-based health coaching program lost an average of three pounds, compared to one pound for those who did not complete the program. Others in a study from Duke University not only scored higher on goals compared to the non-coached group but they retained new health behaviors beyond the study.

Coaches assist you to not only set goals, but make sure your goals are yours, and not imposed by significant others or employers. For example, some companies have attempted to set body composition (BMI) standards on employees, citing that obese individuals cost more in lost productivity and higher absenteeism. But coaches know that a goal imposed from an external source has a strong chance of back-firing. You feel discouraged and give up too soon. Coaches hold their clients in positive regard, never attempting to “fix” them, but instead building supportive alliances that demystify the change process.

Plus, wellness coaches receive special training in nutrition, weight management, fitness, motivational psychology, and stress reduction. They warn you when you’re about to embark on a nonsense diet (“I think I’ll eat just eat grapefruit for a week”) or keep you from spending money on some worthless exercise gimmick (“…but the Fat Vacuum was seen on TV!”).

Finally, a knowledgeable wellness coach can help design a comprehensive approach to weight loss that fortifies you with strategies that are cutting-edge and evidence-based. I teach graduate students in a masters program to critically analyze health studies, and learn the difference between an adaptogenic herb like ashwagandha or red reishi that has the benefit of thousands of years of safe human usage, and a short-term clinical trial of the latest weight loss pill with unknown side effects to consider.  Adaptogens can help you reduce stress levels, which in turn, modulate cortisol levels, a hormone that promotes abdominal girth, the unhealthiest fat. Coaches link you to resources and allies.

More than anything, coaches stretch you to draft a vision for your life that works for the long-term. A greater sense of well-being emerges because you’re no longer fixated on short-term results. Coaches reinforce and acknowledge your success along the change path. The average study participant at StayWell who teamed up with a coach lost an average of 15 pounds—and had a built-in buddy to celebrate with.  

My Mission: Ethnographic Study of Bhutan’s Health System

Part 4 in a series of live blogs from Bhutan by Meg Jordan, Professor and Chair of the Integrative Health Studies Department

Time to dive into my mission here: ethnographic study of Bhutan's health system, its translation of Gross National Happiness principles into health outcomes, and an exploration of how well medical pluralism thrives.

First stop: traditional Asian medicine physician, Dr. Mindu Gorji, where I had my pulses read and my tongue analyzed. I did, however, skip out on the blood letting and swallowing of some rather questionable looking precious gem herbs rolled in dirt from a high-arsenic soil territory.

I met with the Director of Public Health, Health Ministry—his dedication to equity, access, and quality was admirable. His responsibilities cover administration of a multilayered distribution of health programs from the National Hospital through grassroots Community Health Workers. Then I visited their national hospital and was amazed at the amount of work done with limited resources.  

I also spent time with native healers both inside the formal Institute of Traditional Medicine and outside the system. Medical pluralism is alive and well here, and a means of referral back and forth between native healing and allopathic medicine manages to succeed, surprisingly, in the rural areas better than in the larger cities. 

Tonight is my last night in Bhutan. I'll fondly hold the land of the thunder dragons in my heart forever. I'll miss the countryside most with the towering rhododendron and magnolia trees, yak herds, and terraced rice fields, and the easy smiles of these warm and gracious people.

I can't wait to take you back here with Alumni Director Richard Buggs. Save your Nu.