- 30 Days of Healthy Living, Lifestyle Medicine, Living Lifestyle Medicine, Patient Stories, Relationships & Connectedness
10th January – Belonging to your Community
Be part of your community I have spent today working at our local covid vaccination clinic; we have been vaccinating our over-80-year-old population, and health and care staff. Other members of the team went out to local care homes to provide vaccinations for the care home residents. I feel incredibly privileged to be part of such a great team of dedicated professionals. It is also lovely to be part of the local community, it is one of the best bits of being a GP. Whilst I was there today to give vaccines, I had the opportunity to meet so many different patients and hear their stories, and I was awed…
7th January – Phone a friend
Phone a friend… Or a relative, or a loved one. In a pre-covid world I would have said go and connect with somebody in person, but currently that will have to wait for a while. A Harvard study that followed people for 75years showed that the most important predictor of both happiness and longevity is having social connections. This may be because we are evolved to be social tribe animals, and being alone triggers a threat response in our physiological system, setting off a cascade of stress and inflammatory response, which, over time, leads to ill health, both physical and mental. So what? Social connections do matter, and we can…
1st January – Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! Have you made any new year’s resolutions? I must confess to being somewhat overwhelmed by the options available – every social media channel, news channel, even the App Store is trying to persuade us to make resolutions. Many of the initiatives are absolutely genuine and may be a good fit for some people, for example RED (run(or move)-every-day) January for those who want to get moving and improve their wellbeing, or Dry January for those wanting to reduce their alcohol intake. Others are trying to sell you things that you “need” to help you on your way… it’s easy to be lured in by the promise…
