We have spent this past month talking about work and life balance. Let's finish up this week with a talk about therapists and patients who suffer through the holidays. Many patients may be silently suffering because they have lost a spouse or someone close. Holidays can be tough, especially for those who have lost others. The holidays bring up ...

It is a mystery to me why healthcare proponents are not embracing preventative care over traditional health care. The focus on improving longevity is great and has been effective, but the question that should be asked is: are we improving quality of life or just the length? Preventative care offers us the chance to live long, happy, and healthy ...

Smoking has always been the proverbial thorn in a respiratory therapist's side. We deal with smokers every day. Many of our patients require our services because of their smoking history. Whether it is the COPDer who polluted his lungs with cigarettes, or the baby we see in the emergency department on a regular basis because she lives in a house ...

The New York Daily News has released a story about how the smoking rate in the South Bronx is among the highest in the United States, along with the asthma rate. The article provides some loose correlation between smoking and asthma. While respiratory therapists and asthma educators have known about this correlation for years, the article may help ...

A new wind is blowing in the fight against cigarette smoking. New graphic warning labels will appear on cigarette packaging beginning in 2012--and the Food and Drug Administration needs your help picking them. The pictures are geared toward making an impression, particularly on kids, who may be thinking about how cool they will look when they ...

Asthma patient Rob Bonora, 22, of Nutley, N.J., and his friend Anthony Greco, 23, are walking across the U.S. Their mission is to stress the importance of a healthy lifestyle and raise money for the Gail's Angels Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing support to families that have a mom with breast cancer and also care for ...

In recent months, I have been trying to win a grant from Pepsi in their ''Refresh Everything'' challenge. Although I have not won yet, I have come close a few times. What I have done is involuntarily give myself lessons in marketing, social relationships, team-building, data collection, performance measurement, and outcomes. These are lessons that ...

Well, it's May. Time for spring to finally bust loose, tornadoes to crisscross the Midwest, and my annual ''Walkin' for Wheezers.'' I started WFW last year, walking about 90 miles across my county. It's a way for me to raise asthma awareness and money for asthma programs in the local schools. My county has a higher than average asthma rate. I'm ...

We started a new group here in Lexington, Mo,. to help stem the growing problem of asthma in the area. Our ''Asthma Champions'' met for the first time at the Lafayette County Health Department on March 10. The turnout was better than expected and even included a couple of nursing students from the local LPN program. It's hard work. I spend a ...

Spring is springing in Missouri, and that means conference season is around the corner. AARC's Summer Forum at Marriott Marco Island, Fla., runs July 16-18. The Association of Asthma Educators has its annual conference from July 30-Aug. 2 at the Hilton at Disney World. Go be a kid and get in touch with your inner Mickey Mouse. If you look around ...