If you care for an ill or disabled loved one, you may be feeling stressed, isolated, or exhausted. Finding time for yourself can be especially challenging.
     Meditating for a few minutes every day can refresh your spirit and help you maintain your balance. Learn how to meditate - in an online community of other care-givers - with "Caring for Others - Caring for Ourselves." This 8-week course offered by the Spiritual Care Programme will address the emotional challenges of care-giving and provide resources for healing difficult relationships.
     Professionals working in health care, mental health, social work, and chaplaincy may be interested in two related events: "Cultivating Compassionate Presence," an online class (with CE credits for nurses), and the third annual "Empathy and Compassion in Society" conference.
     Based on Tibetan Buddhist teachings, the practices taught by the nonprofit Spiritual Care Programme are non-denominational. There is a fee for each activity.

Happy Feet (& Tails)
      If you are a runner, nothing is more important to your exercise regime than maintaining your feet. Here are tips on shoe selection, cross-training, coping with minor injuries, and more.
     If you sometimes jog with a four-footed companion, keep your dog healthy and happy during your jaunts together.

 

Insomnia
      Consumer Reports recently reviewed sleeping pill safety and effectiveness. Numerous lifestyle approaches to improving sleep are described first. If you remain desperate for sleep even after implementing these changes, a "Best Buy" prescription drug is also suggested. The article begins with this summary.

 

Kids with Allergies or Asthma
     If your child has asthma or a serious allergy, enlist the help of his or her teacher and other school staff in managing the condition now, as a new school year starts. Use this checklist to ensure measures are in place for minimizing hazards to your child's health and dealing with emergencies.

 

Expensive Insurance Pitfalls
     Avoiding these eight mistakes often made by health insurance consumers will save big bucks on your out-of-pocket medical costs.
     If you are approaching 65 years of age and unclear about the basics of Medicare, now is a good time to start learning. You will especially want to know when you should sign up; tardy enrollment will make your monthly premiums more costly - permanently.

 

Prescription Pain Relievers
     Appropriately prescribed and used, narcotic drugs - oxycodone (Oxycontin), hydrocodone (Vicodin), codeine, morphine, and related medications - can provide much needed relief from pain. Most people need and safely use these opioids for only a few days or weeks. Unfortunately, use occasionally leads to addiction or accidental overdosing.
     If you or a loved one takes a narcotic medication for acute (short-term) pain, learn how to avoid problems. The article also explains why experts now encourage chronic pain sufferers to use pain control measures other than opioids.
     If you are concerned that your or someone else's prescription drug use may have slipped into misuse, this overview will help you evaluate the situation and decide what steps to take.

 

A Balancing Act
      Parents with one thin and one overweight child may wonder how to manage food and physical activity in a way that promotes good health and healthy family relationships. Here is guidance.