A primary care physician can help you stay in control of your health — keeping you on track with your wellness goals, managing a chronic disease in coordination with a specialist and reminding you of recommended screenings. Your primary care physician (often called an internist or family practice doctor) should be someone you build a long-lasting relationship with; they are the person you trust to give you health advice and help you navigate all of your healthcare needs. If you need a specialist for a health condition, your primary care physician can refer you to a qualified doctor. And when your doctors are part of a connected network of physicians, such as Baptist Health Quality Network, your specialist and primary care physician will stay in communication, discussing your health and creating an individualized treatment plan that considers your overall health. If having this health partner isn’t reason enough, research shows that people who have a primary care physician live longer, healthier lives. If you don’t have a primary care physician, there’s no time like now to get one.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
› Hector Delgado, D.O., is Medical Director of Primary Care for Baptist Health Quality Network, a collaboration between Baptist Health South Florida and physicians in the community; BaptistHealthQualityNetwork.net.
ACHIEVING BALANCE
As the American Institute Of Stress points out, what’s extremely stressful to one person can be pleasurable, even inspiring, to another. Likewise, stress management is different for each individual, but there are some common factors.
Pass The Buck
One of the quickest ways to reduce stress for everyone from CEOs to new mothers is to stop equating one’s level of commitment to a job or family with the amount of work produced. Delegating is not a betrayal of dedication.
Read & Relax
Don’t have much “me” time? British Researcher David Lewis found that reading for 6 minutes slows the heart rate and eases muscle tension by 68%. Avoid business reads and even books on stress-relief. What’s more, listening to music can reduce stress up to 61%.
Word Spreads
Gossip is bad. Or is it? University Of California at Berkley researchers found that “spreading information about a person they had seen behave badly actually makes people feel better, quieting the frustrations that drove the gossip.” The sooner you talk, the less it’ll bother you.
