March 2015
ing about action plans for disease
management and general self care
strategies.
6) Time alone. Whether we have
days, weeks, months or years to
live, we can add life, meaning and
purpose to our life by slowing down
and reflecting on our deepest values.
It can be extremely therapeutic to
write down our answers to questions such as- ‘Who am I?’ ‘Why
am I here?’ ‘What touched my heart
today?’
As our population ages, most of
us will develop at least one chronic
disease. Aging effectively and gracefully increasingly includes living
with chronic disease.
professional help.
4) Emotional well being- An
important ingredient in living
with chronic illness is self-efficacy,
having a sense of mastery of one’s
life and the confidence that one
can affect his or her own health.
Self-efficacy can be bolstered by
sticking with treatment plans from
health professionals and learning
as much as possible about one’s
condition. Mindfulness of emotions is one of the primary goals
of mindfulness training and other
mind-body approaches. The active
cultivation of emotional well-being
often requires both group support
and time alone.
5) Group support. Support
groups often center around specific diseases, such as cancer or
diabetes. Classes are offered in
senior centers, churches, libraries
and hospitals. Common goals in
such groups include facing one’s
illness honestly, directly and rationally. This is the foundation on
which other group goals are built.
The emotional support, practical
solutions and personal friendships
provided by the group often lead
to more rational, decisive think-
Resources
Harvard School of Public Health- The
Nutrition Source
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/
Mayo Clinic- Exercise and chronic
disease
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthyliving/fitness/in-depth/exercise-andchronic-disease/art-20046049
American Psychological AssociationCoping with a diagnosis of chronic
illness
Living a Healthy Life with Chronic
Conditions (4th edition, 2012)
http://www.amazon.com/Living-
&
13
Healthy-Life-Chronic-Conditions/
dp/193350336X
‘Wherever you go, there you areMindfulness meditation in everyday
life’
Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of the mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR)
program
Free 3 hour audio book
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=tH1_agS2P5k
About the Author
Dr Patterson is past president of
the Kentucky Academy of Family
Physicians and is board certified
in family medicine and integrative
holistic medicine. He is on the family practice faculty at the University
of Kentucky College of Medicine
and the University of Louisville
School of Medicine, Saybrook
University’s School of Mind Body
Medicine (San Francisco) and the
Center for Mind Body Medicine
(Washington, DC). He operates the
Mind Body Studio in Lexington,
where he offers integrative medicine
consultations. He can be reached
through his website at www.mindbodystudio.org
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