Personal Integrated Health Care Plan

Dacher (2006) stated,

I can assure you that I have found the integral approach to be precisely what we are looking for.  It is not just a new remedy, technique, or therapy.  It requires us to first bring an integral approach into our own lives.  We are not just expanding the medical tool kit.  We are transforming medicine and evolving it to a new level.  That means the holder of the tool kit, the practitioner himself or herself, must enter the transformation process.  We must change ourselves if we are to change the medicine we are practicing (p.  165-166).

We cannot lead our clients into higher levels of health if we have not experienced it ourselves.  If we have not developed to higher levels of wellness it is much like the blind leading the blind.  We will not have any experience in the higher levels that we are trying to guide our clients/patients into.  We do not need to be fully evolved in integrated health; we just need to be developing psychologically, spiritually, and physically in order to help our clients/patients achieve higher levels of wellness. 

Assessment

In order for me to fully understand where I am currently with my psychological, physical, and spiritual health, I must first make an assessment in each domain.  Therefore, I must develop a way to assess these areas.  I decided that the best way to assess my health in each domain is to use a scoring method using the numbers from one to ten.  Table 1 shows my assessment score for each of the following factors; 1-4 (needs improvement), 5-7 (satisfactory), and 8-10 (excellent). The assessment of my health in each domain is based on the following factors:

Table 1             My Health Assessment

Factors	Current Data	Score
Current Weight	249.4 lbs	2
BMI	>50	2
Last Blood Pressure Reading	140/80	4
Recent Blood Glucose A1c Result	6.1%	6
Average Hours of Sleep	7	6
Quality of Sleep	Fair	4
Diet	High in Carbohydrates	4
Amount of Exercise	0	1
Average Stress Level	Overly Stressed	3
Number of Medications I Take (Including Allergy Medications)	7	4
Total Score		36

Health Assessment Score Key

0–24 points = poor

25−49 points = fair

50–74 points = good

 75–100 points = excellent (keep doing what you are doing!)

Using the wellness key shown below, I scored my wellness levels as follows:  spiritual 3, physical 4, and psychological 4.

Wellness Score Key

1-2 = poor

3-4 = fair

5-6 = average

7-8 = above average

9-10 = excellent

I scored all three of my wellness levels as fair because I have neglected all three levels for a long time.  However, I scored the physical and psychological levels a little higher than the spiritual level because I have recently begun to work on these two levels.

 

Goal development

My assessments and wellness scores show me that I have room for improvement in the areas of spiritual, physical, and psychological wellness.  Therefore, I have determined that the most important goals for each area of wellness.  These goals are:

Spiritual

For my spiritual wellness, I have determined that I need to make room for daily prayer, scripture reading/study, and meditation.  Since I have become my husband’s full-time caregiver I have not been able to go to church as I used to, which is why prayer and reading/studying the scriptures are even more important to my spiritual wellness; I need to feel connected to my Heavenly Father and this is how I will feel that connection.  Another goal that I have for my spiritual wellness is daily meditation.  Though I do not practice meditation as a religious practice, I believe that meditation will lead me to a greater connection with my Heavenly Father.

Physical

For my physical wellness, I need to get serious about losing weight, getting my blood pressure under control, and getting my type 2 diabetes under control.  Currently I weigh 249.4 pounds, which puts me in the severely obese category since my BMI is currently greater than 50.  Because I am severely obese, I have developed high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes; therefor, I have to take prescription medications.  Since I have these health issues and I do not want any further complications from them or develop other health issues such as cardiovascular disease, I need to set the following goals:

• Improve my daily diet by
• Drinking more water
• Cutting out sodas
• Eating at home more often so that I have control over my sodium intake
• Eating more fruits and vegetables
• Cutting back on the amount of carbohydrates I consume daily
• Exercise
• Lose weight

Psychological

Stress is the big one that I need to control in this wellness domain; therefore, my goal is to practice meditation for at least ten minutes a day.  Meditation will help me to reduce my stress.  In addition, it will help me to lower my blood pressure, my blood glucose levels, and my stress levels in addition to giving me a feeling of overall wellness.

Practices for Personal Health

The strategies I can implement to foster growth in each of the following domains; physical, psychological, and spiritual includes developing an exercise program, becoming more mindful with the foods I eat, getting plenty of sleep, meditating; praying, and reading/studying the scriptures.

Physical

Within my physical domain, I can develop a healthy diet and implement an exercise program.  The first practice I can do to improve my physical domain is to become more mindful in what I am eating daily.  I can do this by keeping a food journal.  In this food journal I would keep track of everything that I eat and drink each day.  Keeping a daily food journal will help me to stay within my daily calorie goal (1200–1550), as well as help keep me within my daily carbohydrate goal (150-194 g.), fat goal (40-52 g.), protein goal (60-80 g.), and sodium goal (<2300  mg).  In addition, I can be more mindful and drink more water; 8-8 ounces glasses of water per day instead of drinking only soda.

It is important for me to implement an exercise program since I have been a “couch potato” for twenty-plus years.  My exercise program will include:

• Warm-up: At least five to ten minutes do some stretching and breathing exercises to warm-up before any exercise session.
• Aerobic Sessions (dancing or walking)
• Frequency:  At least 5 times/week
• Intensity:  40% - 50%
• Time:  30 min/session
• Days per Week:  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday
• Cool-down:  Ride stationary bicycle for five to ten minutes
• Weight Training Sessions
• Frequency:  3 times/week
• Time:  30 min/session
• Days per Week:  Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
• Flexibility Sessions
• Frequency:  At least 5 times/week
• Time:  30 min./session
• Days per week:  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday

Psychological

One of the ways that I can foster growth in my psychological domain is to make sure that I get plenty of sleep.  Currently, I get eight to nine hours of restful sleep only two nights a week; therefore, there is room for improvement.  I must become more mindful in the time I go to bed and get up the next day.  In addition, I must be sure to get to bed earlier than I do on most nights, which is usually anywhere from 1 a.m. to 3 a.m.

Meditation is another practice that I can implement for my psychological wellness.  Having just learned about the effects that regular meditation has on our wellness physically, psychologically, cognitively, and spiritually I have decided to begin meditating at least 10 minutes a day and extend the time as I become more successful in meditation.  Many forms of meditation exist; however, I have decided to begin with Transcendental meditation, which is easy for beginners to practice since it requires that the individual chant a word or short phrase to keep focused during the meditation session.

Spiritual

The strategies that I can implement to foster my spiritual growth is daily prayer and scripture reading/study.  Currently, these two practices are important to me since I can no longer attend church services; my husband is too ill to attend church and cannot be left home alone any longer.  My plan is to set aside 10 minutes a day for prayer.  In addition, my plan is to set aside 20 minutes a day for scripture reading/study.  As I get into the routine of both praying and reading/studying the scriptures, I plan to increase my sessions from one per day to two per day.  Then, once I have progressed to practicing both activities two times daily, I will then increase the length of time per session as I feel led.

Commitment

I will assess my progress or lack of progress within the next six months by taking into account whether I:

• Have lost weight and how much
• Take less prescription medications or not
• My type 2 diabetes is under control
• My next A1c result is between 5% and 6%
• Am depressed
• Have lower blood pressure
• Have a better quality of sleep
• Have an overall feeling of wellness

The strategies that I can use to help me in maintaining my long-term practices for health and wellness include:

• Remembering how I currently feel.

• Keeping a journal to document my progress.

• Taking and posting before and after pictures.

• Continuing to work with my health coach.

• Staying informed about new studies in integrated health.

• Implementing everything that I have learned about integral health and teaching others how they can achieve a complete feeling of wellness through my health coaching practice.

Conclusion

We cannot lead our clients into higher levels of wellness if we have not experienced it for ourselves; not developing to higher levels of wellness is much like the blind leading the blind.  If we have not experienced higher levels of wellness ourselves, we will find it difficult to guide our clients/patients into integral health and wellness.  We do not have to be fully developed in integrated health; we just need to continue to grow psychologically, spiritually, and physically in order to help our clients/patients achieve higher levels of wellness. 

After assessing my current levels of wellness in the spiritual, physical, and psychological domains, I find that I have a lot of work ahead of me.  Therefore, in order for me to achieve the wellness goals I have for myself, I need to further develop psychologically, spiritually and physically.  Psychologically, I need to work on changing my mindset when it comes to eating healthy, exercising, and managing my stress.  Spiritually, I need to set aside some time everyday for prayer and scripture reading/study since I am unable to go to church due to my husband’s health.  In addition, I need to set aside some time everyday to meditate, which will help me to manage the stress of going to school along with being my husband’s full-time caregiver.  Physically, I need to lose weight and manage my high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.  Once I get to the point of managing these two health concerns, I will be on my way back to wellness.

Reference

Dacher, E. S. (2006). Integral health: The path to human flourishing. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, Inc.

Loving Kindness Exercise and Integral Assessment

I found that trying to do the Loving Kindness exercise with my eyes closed was a challenge since I could not remember the words well enough to be able to repeat them for ten minutes.

However, I found that completing the Integral Assessment was easier for me to accomplish.  While doing the Integral Assessment, I discovered that the area I need to focus on is in the area of losing weight.  Once I lose my excess weight, then my blood pressure and blood sugar levels will go back to normal.

Some of the activities that I can implement to foster greater wellness in this area include the following:

• Reduce my daily calorie intake 
• Limit carbohydrates and fat
• Reduce stress
• Develop psychospiritually
• Exercise
• Limit eating out to once a week
• Cut back on soda

 Debra

Sprititual Wellness Connection

As human beings, we are composed of spirit, mind, and body, which are all interconnected.  Therefore, we must care for each aspect of our being in order to achieve or maintain complete wellness.  Unfortunately, contemporary medicine has moved away from both the spiritual and mental aspects of our health and has only focused on the physical, which is why physicians and surgeons focus so much on pushing pills and procedures as a cure to our ailments such as heart disease and diabetes. However, physicians are now realizing that the mental aspect of our being is also important and we are seeing a transition to including therapies such as counseling.  On the other hand, physicians have been slow in recognizing the importance of including the spiritual aspect in their treatments.

My spiritual connection is mostly manifested through prayer.  Most of the prayer that I have done over the last few years have been for my husband's health since has been on life-support three times during this time.  Each time, he was not given more than 48 hours to live; however, with my belief in prayer he proved the doctors wrong.

Having this belief in prayer has helped both my physical and mental wellness in that giving my worries to God has helped to relieve the stress that I would have felt.  In relieving my stress I was mentally at peace, which prevented my body from reacting to the stress that I would have experienced.  In other words, my body remained in the same state of wellness it was in prior to my husband's hospitalizations instead of breaking down due to stress since I was at peace with the outcome of my husband's situation.

Debra