Tag: Health

Resilience — Rooted in the Land

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Farming is more than a job—it’s an identity that adds meaning to life. It is often a calling.

Farming is a frequently a multigenerational enterprise on land passed down through the generations. Farming adds a weight of responsibility and pressure to meet expectations of previous generations and not fail the next — to not lose the family’s cultural heritage. This drive to survive and thrive can be both a source of stress and a source of resilience.

Farming ranks in the top 10 most stressful occupations in the U.S. Farm and farm family stress, more accurately, distress, is brought on by pressures within individuals and families, farming systems and the farm as a business.

If you are in the business of farming, or working with someone who is, you know that along with the ordinary stress of life, farming has added sources of stress. Extreme weather, changing markets and commodity prices, episodes of animal and plant diseases and other events all bring added pressures and threats.

So how is it that you and your family can face multiple stressors and keep on farming? Research says it’s by being resilient.

I farm because it’s in my blood. You get done planting a field and you turn around and the sun’s setting over the pattern of the crops that you’ve just planted, and it’s a pretty rewarding experience to see all the hard work pan out and know that you’re helping to feed families throughout the Mid-Atlantic.

Mike Harrison of Woodbine, Md.

Resilience

Resilience is an asset that enables you adapt to meet challenges and changes of the times. According to the American Psychological Association, resilience is “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems, or workplace and financial stressors. Resilience means ‘bouncing back’ from difficult experiences.”

Most farmers and farm families are optimistic. They draw on their values to get them through challenges. When life’s events are really hard, deeply held values become the motivation to draw on resilience to bounce back or bounce forward after recovering from the initial set back.

So ask yourself:

  • Do you draw on resilience resources like managerial skills, self-control, self-compassion, optimism and hardiness to prevent and deal with stress?
  • Have you drawn on the value of hardiness to get through?
  • Do you recall other challenges and how you, your family and past generations were able to get by?
  • Are you motivated to succeed for the next generation?

How critical is the value of resilience, of adapting to conditions to survive and thrive? It’s imperative and for farmers, driven by generational heritage. Multi-generational farms exist because farmers adapted to change. In the past three years, Maryland farmers, and other farmers, have experienced multiple challenges.

Those who are best able to adapt quickly are those most likely to withstand tests of their ability to survive and thrive. They are those who are resilient are most likely to succeed because they get great satisfaction from what they do. Farming is in their blood. They draw on resilience from being are rooted to the land.

Find resilience-building resources:

Farm Stress Management – University of Maryland Extension

Managing Farm and Farm Family Challenges Resiliently: A Worksheet to Explore Resilient Thinking and Doing – University of Maryland Extension and University of Delaware Cooperative Extension

The Road to Resilience – American Psychological Association

This blog was written by special guest blogger Bonnie Braun, Professor Emerita, Extension Family Health Policy specialist and professor in the Department of Family Science in the School of Public Health at the University of Maryland.

It Takes a Village: Building Up Maryland’s Agricultural Community

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The expression “it takes a village…” usually refers to raising children. It highlights how an engaged community is critical to support a growing child. What many of us often do not realize is that the phrase also applies to supporting adults. Adults, too, need a village of caring, competent others to celebrate the good times and support them in the bad times. Fortunately, building a more caring and competent “village” is possible through education and practice. 

University of Maryland Extension has developed a comprehensive set of programs to address stress and mental health in the farming community. Our approach is unique in that we not only teach farmers themselves techniques for stress management, but we also work with agricultural service providers and other members of the community around farmers. Members of the community learn the skills to observe signs of stress, engage skillfully, and share relevant resources with their peers in agriculture. As the community grows more supportive of the health of farmers, farm businesses remain productive and sustainable. 

Although 2021 was a generally good financial year in the agricultural community, many are still feeling the ongoing effects of stressful years past. In addition, new challenges such as the avian influenza outbreak continue to pose significant threats to Maryland’s farmers. 

Each successive challenge takes a toll on our physical and mental health. In a phenomenon called “cumulative stress,” each stressful experience increases both the likelihood and impact of future stressful events. In other words, things pile up. 

We have already reached over 1,000 individuals across Maryland’s agricultural community through a combination of education and outreach efforts. These individuals include training medical and mental health providers in rural areas about the unique culture of farming so that they are better equipped to serve the community that surrounds them. 
If you are interested in joining the village of support, check out our upcoming events site and learn how you can contribute to the health and vitality of our Maryland farms.

This blog written by Breathing Room special guest Alexander Chan, family and consumer sciences agent with UME.

Everyone Can Celebrate Play Outside Day

Published on by CarrieLeave a comment

I recently learned that the first Saturday of every month is National Play Outside Day! As someone whose family loves to get together and play games in the back yard, I think it is great that there is a day specifically set aside to remind everyone to enjoy playing outside. As the weather gets warmer, there are more and more options for places we can go and activities we can do outside. So, set a reminder for yourself on the first Saturday of every month (like this upcoming Saturday May 7th) and head outside for some fun!

Playing outside was a big part of my childhood and something that I still enjoy. When I was younger, my siblings and I would scour my mother’s gardens for ingredients we could use to create our pretend delicacies. I will always appreciate my mother’s tolerance of our pulling up her plants for our make-believe games! As we got older, we would play games like kick the can, capture the flag, and more. Some in my family might even tell you that the games would get so competitive that some might have cheated in order to win, but those allegations were never proven.  Kick-The-Can was actually a game designed to be played as it started to get dark because we would regularly play well into the evening. Even now, my family and I love to get together for some outdoor games like cornhole. On one occasion, we even made a homemade outdoor putt-putt course in the backyard!

If you are interested in getting outside to play but aren’t sure what to do, here are some ideas to get you started! Keep in mind that, especially for kids, part of the fun is in being creative and coming up with your own games and rules. So, try these ideas to get started, and then see if you can come up with your own even more creative ideas!

One thing you can do is create your own scavenger hunt or competition. You could send everyone out in search of the coolest rock or biggest leaf.  If you have sports equipment, you could also see who can come up with the best trick shot (with any ball and container you have available). You can use that same sports equipment to create a totally new game! Get out everything you have and then see if you can come up with new ways to use those things for a different game. It can be even more fun if you create your own weird rules. Don’t get hung up on the details, just get outside and find something fun you can play!

One last thing before we get outside and play, please consider safety as well. Playing outside is fun, but we want to ensure that we stay safe too!

  • Pay attention to the weather. If the weather is too hot, you’ll want to consider playing at a cooler time of day. Also, summer storms can come on suddenly. Know what to do if it starts to look stormy.
  • If it is sunny, make sure you are protecting yourself! Wear sunscreen or sun protective clothing to make sure you don’t get burned. Also, make sure you have water so that you can stay hydrated.

I hope you get to get your creativity flowing and enjoy some time outside in honor of National Play Outside Day!

Spring Drinking Water Tune-Up

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Home appliances require periodic maintenance to ensure they last and operate effectively. This is especially true if they have filters such as a vacuum or heating/air conditioner. Your water supply and filtration system also needs regular attention. Water quality is very important to your health, so understanding your water supply, its quality, and treatment is essential.

Depending on your supply (public or private well), tune up procedures will vary. For public water supplies, which go through extensive testing and treatment, there may be little to do unless you have older plumbing pipe and fixtures. In this case, testing for lead and copper is recommended. 

If you are on a drinking water well, have your water tested annually for coliform bacteria, E.coli and nitrate (animal waste and sewage contaminants), and every three years test for chloride, copper, lead, iron, pH, manganese, sulfates, and total dissolved solids. In some areas, there may be other contaminants such as arsenic or radium (local health departments can provide information), which you can test for. Be sure to use a certified lab – your local county health department should have a list. If your water results indicate treatment is needed, go to this resource to find out more about filters: http://dwit.psiee.psu.edu/dwit.asp.

Whatever type of water filter you use — faucet, pitcher, refrigerator or under the sink filter – they all require maintenance. Simply be sure to change the filters as recommended by the manufacturer. Not changing them can lead to reduction in water flow and filtration performance, and can also result in contaminants no longer being trapped, which can then be released into the water. Water filters can also build up bacteria if not changed as recommended. If you have a whole house or faucet filtration system, be sure to follow the manufacturers’ recommended maintenance schedule. 

Investing a little time to check on your water and filtration system can help ensure safe drinking water for you and your family.

How UME Helped Me Navigate my Health Insurance! 

Published on by CarrieLeave a comment

One of the things we love to do here at Breathing Room is show people how University of Maryland Extension (UME) can help them with day-to-day challenges. We have tons of classes and resources all focused on helping people make positive changes in their lives. Today, I thought I would share the story of how one of those resources helped me navigate a particularly confusing situation with my health insurance. 

I don’t think it’s a secret that health insurance can be really confusing. When I started working for UME, I didn’t know much at all about how my insurance worked. But, I actually wasn’t too concerned about it. I had always been on my mother’s insurance and she had always helped me with it. Then, I got certified to teach our Smart Choice, Smart Use program and learned so much about the ins and outs of insurance! Now, I often get to teach people (including my own friends and family) about how health insurance works. I didn’t even realize how much my own confidence had increased until I ran into a problem with my insurance. 

It all started with my going to the doctor for a regular checkup. I wasn’t concerned, until a few weeks later I got a bill for $400 and a letter saying my visit wasn’t covered. Because of all I had learned, I knew my visit should have been considered preventive care and I knew my doctor was in-network for my plan. So, the visit should have been covered and I shouldn’t have had any out-of-pocket costs. 

I called the insurance company to get an explanation and they let me know they would look into it and get back to me. After not hearing back for a few weeks, I called again. The issue appeared to be that the health insurance company was confused about whether I was still covered under my mother’s insurance after getting married. We spent so long going back and forth, that I actually started getting calls from a debt collection company. I still refused to pay because I knew the visit should have been covered! 

Finally, the health insurance company resolved the problem and paid for the visit. After receiving confirmation the bill was paid, I wrote a letter to the debt collection company asking them to verify the debt, which basically means the debt collection company has to go back and make sure the original debt is still valid (I also learned about this from UME, we have great classes about credit and debt!) Finally, the company stopped contacting me and everything was resolved. 

Recently, I was thinking about how differently this whole situation could have gone for me! Without the knowledge and confidence I had gained with UME, I don’t think I would have known I could file a dispute with the health insurance company and get things figured out. Having had this personal experience, it’s so important to me to spread the word about our resources so that people can get the knowledge and skills they need to avoid situations like this. 

So, if you have ever been confused by health insurance, check out these resources!

  1. Smart Choice, Smart Use – these are workshops focused on different health insurance topics. We have workshops available now and you can register here: https://go.umd.edu/hili_spring_2022
  2. Need to resolve your own health insurance dispute? Check out this resource, it spells out the whole process: https://extension.umd.edu/resource/health-insurance-claim-problem-how-navigate-health-insurance-claims-process
  3. For many other resources, check out https://extension.umd.edu/resource/health-insurance-claim-problem-how-navigate-health-insurance-claims-process

The Dimensions of Wellness

Published on by Laura1 Comment

At the beginning of February, Breathing Room special guest writer Alex Chan, Mental Health Specialist with the University of Maryland Extension, offered some reasons why we have trouble keeping our New Year’s resolutions.

Even after acknowledging the pitfalls in goal-setting, it may still be difficult to set a reasonable goal and an accompanying step-by-step process to get there. By understanding the dimensions of personal wellness, you may be able to identify the areas affecting your ability to maintain a healthier lifestyle.

Creating A Healthier Life, A Step-By-Step Guide to Wellness from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration identifies the eight dimensions of wellness as:

Physical – the area that encompasses physical health and all that it includes. Things like sleep, exercise, and eating well all contribute to the physical dimension of wellness.

Emotional – this dimension of wellness is about maintaining emotional health. Stress management, coping skills, and therapy are activities relevant to this area.

Social – maintaining social wellness includes aspects like having a support system, setting boundaries, and interactions with social media.

Spiritual – this includes spending time alone, prayer, or even spending time in nature to care for yourself.

Intellectual (Personal) – spending time partaking in hobbies, following goals, and validating your identity all factor into your personal wellbeing.

Environmental (Space) – ensuring and maintaining a safe, stable, and healthy environment contributes to your environmental or special wellness.

Financial – taking control of your money so it doesn’t take control of you.

Occupational (Work) – taking breaks and managing time at work are tasks that help maintain occupational wellness

Each of the dimensions interact and affect one another, creating multifaceted obstacles to creating a path to your wellness goals. Do the following activity for each of your wellness goals to begin outlining your personal step-by-step guide to self care. Once you have your plan, set a reminder to review your plan after 2-3 weeks and see if any unforeseen obstacles have emerged.

1. Define one wellness goal that you’d like to achieve.

2. Which dimensions of wellness are involved?

3. What small step can you take towards reaching that goal?

4. When you will take the action described in #3?

5. Are there any barriers to taking your first step? How will you deal with them?

For more information, or to request a training in self care and stress management, contact Alex Chan at alexchan@umd.edu.

Why Couldn’t I Keep My New Years’ Resolution?

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Now that we are over a month past the New Year, it is a good time to assess the status of our New Years’ resolutions, if you made any. Although this might be a disappointing moment for those of us who have not been able to sustain the commitments we made, it is still important to look back on them and identify what worked and what did not. This reflection enables us to learn from any mistakes that we made during the process. 

First, let us acknowledge that change is hard. There is quite a bit to the process of change that is involved before we even make a commitment to change . We have to recognize that something is a problem, weigh the options of changing or maintaining the status quo, and create a plan that is sufficiently detailed and achievable (more on this later), all before we make our first attempt at a new behavior. Furthermore, once we do take our first steps, we have to monitor for pitfalls and ensure that we can sustain the new behavior long-term.

For the sake of this article, we will take the commitment to a New Years’ Resolution as evidence that you had some kind of plan (or intent) to change, which would indicate that you had already recognized a problem and decided that change was more appealing than the status quo. Some of the most common pitfalls in creating lasting change are that the goal itself is either too vague or too lofty.

Too vague: I want to get fit.

This goal is not specific or meaningful enough to spur organized action. What does being fit mean to you? Being able to run a mile without stopping? Being flexible enough to play with your grandchildren on the floor? Having a specific goal focuses your effort and reduces the chance of feeling overwhelmed by possibilities.

Too lofty: I (never was a runner, and) am going to run a marathon next month. 

Lofty goals impose harsh expectations that may ultimately demoralize you, even if they are specific and meaningful. The pride of achieving smaller milestones will provide the motivation to keep moving toward the loftier goal.

As your goals become more specific and achievable, it is important to celebrate milestones as a chance to both feel good about your accomplishments and set the next achievable goal for yourself in that realm. 

What if you set small achievable goals that are meaningful to you, yet still find yourself unable to follow through consistently? 

Unexamined Root Issue 

A lack of sustained change indicates that the status quo might serve a more important function in your life than you have imagined. Say you are a parent of two young children who wants to start a workout regimen in the mornings. If working out every morning means you aren’t able to cook the healthiest, warmest breakfast for your children, guilt may be keeping you from changing. In essence, you value providing for your children in a specific way more than you value the personal fitness changes. For another example, what if you resolved to stick to a reasonable budget each month by reducing frivolous spending? Inflation and price hikes aside, perhaps you have not identified that shopping gives you a sense of freedom – a compelling reason NOT to stick to a budget where that sense of freedom is limited.

Whether it is guilt, feeling restricted, or some other emotional issue, it is often difficult for people to identify and tackle these issues alone. Friends and family are a good place to start the conversation about some of these root issues, because sometimes close associates can see our blind spots – personal qualities or circumstances we are unaware of but that are visible to others. Talking about our goals with others also helps us rehearse our belief in their importance. Licensed mental health professionals can help us look deeper into the emotional issues that may be holding us back, and can also help us develop more specific, achievable goals that keep us motivated in the long-run. They can also help brainstorm new ways of meeting formerly unacknowledged needs in ways that do not interfere with the changes or resolutions that you are trying to make.

The blog written by Breathing Room special guest contributor Alex Chan, Mental and Behavioral Health Specialist with University of Maryland Extension.

Using Health Insurance in the New Year

Published on by JesseLeave a comment

Now that we have settled into the New Year, I want you to think about health insurance. If you purchased your insurance from the MarketPlace, your plan year likely began on January 1, 2022. If you have private insurance through the workplace, check with your plan as it may start January 1.

This is important because it resets the clock for your annual deductible and out-of-pocket maximum. The deductible is the amount you owe for services your health insurance plan covers before your health insurance plan begins to pay. The out-of-pocket maximum is the amount you pay during a policy period before your health insurance plan pays 100% for covered services. Deductibles vary by plan and can be a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars. The out-of-pocket maximum will also vary by plan.

Now that you have health insurance and are paying the premium, you should get the maximum benefit of your plan. Another way to look at it is that you paid for it, you should use it. Just by having health insurance you qualify for free preventive services. A list of preventive health services is available on the Healthcare.gov website.

Once you start using your health insurance you will have co-payments (a fixed amount often found on your insurance card). This is like the $20 (may vary depending on your plan) charge when you visit the health care provider. You may also be responsible for coinsurance (your share of costs calculated as a percentage) depending on the type of service rendered. For example, your plan may indicate you pay 20% and the insurance company pays 80%. Remember that your costs stop at the out-of-pocket maximum.

So let’s go back to the main point, now that you have insurance start using it.

Take full advantage of the health insurance plan and in doing so, it may save you money. Health insurance costs are often something we overlook in our financial planning. The Health Insurance Literacy Team developed a worksheet to help you understand and estimate health care expenses. On our website, you can find information on how to choose a doctor, flexible spending accounts, our workbook, and much more.