Health and Wellness Resources

People typically think of Health as our physical health, such as eating right, getting exercise, weight, blood pressure etc. However, Wellness includes a variety of topics that integrate our Whole Person, including physical, mental, social and emotional well being.

Ready to Quit Smoking? 

Smoking is an addiction, but it is possible to quit.  Most people don't quit on their first try, so don't give up! You CAN quit! Talk with your health care provider about quitting.

New York State Smoker's Quitline

The New York State Smokers’ Quitline (NYSSQL) is a service of the New York State Department of Health Tobacco Control Program and based at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, N.Y. It is a free and confidential program providing evidence-based services to New York State residents who want to stop smoking or using other forms of tobacco. A program with experience, care, and expertise. The offer:

  • Trained and caring Quit Coaches to help you with a quit plan
  •  Nicotine replacement therapy for those who qualify 
  • Brochures for additional information and support
  •  Local, in-person support in your area 
  • Help and advice for family and friends of tobacco users

Call 1-866-NY-QUITS (1-866-697-8487)

https://www.nysmokefree.com/

Local Quitting Resources:

Quit for Life Glens Falls Hospital
A free four week quit smoking program led by professionals from the C. R. Wood Cancer Center. For more information on this program, call the phone number listed below. 

C.R. Wood Cancer Center Library, 100 Park Street, Glens Falls, NY 12801
Phone: (518) 926-6563

Nicotine Anonymous at Glens Falls Hospital
Group support and recovery using the 12 step model. Located in Cafeteria A of Glens Falls Hospital.

100 Park Street, Glens Falls, NY 12801
Phone: (518) 926-1000

The Butt Stops Here at Hudson Headwaters Training Center
A free seven week tobacco cessation program. Call the Training Center for more information on this program via the information listed below.

Hudson Headwaters Training Center, CVS Plaza, Queensbury, NY 12804
Phone: (518) 824-2349

Click Below to go to NYQuits

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Free Cancer Screenings

Glens Falls Hospital Cancer Center administers a NYSDOH Cancer Services  Program that provides free breast exams, free cervical cancer screening and free colorectal cancer screening to women 40 to 64 years of age who do not have health insurance coverage. We also provide colorectal cancer screening to men ages 50-64. 

For more information, contact the Cancer Services Program at (800) 882-0121 or (518) 926-6570.

Or visit their website:
GFH Cancer Prevention

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Healthy Weight

The key to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight isn’t about short-term dietary changes. It’s about a lifestyle that includes healthy eating, regular physical activity, and balancing the number of calories you consume with the number of calories your body uses.

Staying in control of your weight contributes to good health now and as you age.

Visit the CDC's page to learn how to assess your weight: CDC Assessing Your Weight

Preventing Weight Gain 

If you’re currently at a healthy weight, you’re already one step ahead of the game. To stay at a healthy weight, it’s worth doing a little planning now. For more information visit: CDC Preventing Weight Gain

Losing Weight

Evidence shows that people who lose weight gradually and steadily (about 1 to 2 pounds per week) are more successful at keeping weight off. Healthy weight loss isn’t just about a “diet” or “program”. It’s about an ongoing lifestyle that includes long-term changes in daily eating and exercise habits. For more information visit: CDC Losing Weight

Diabetes and Prediabetes

There are three main types of diabetes: type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes (diabetes while pregnant).

Type 1 diabetes is thought to be caused by an autoimmune reaction (the body attacks itself by mistake) that stops your body from making insulin. About 5% of the people who have diabetes have type 1. 

With type 2 diabetes, your body doesn’t use insulin well and can’t keep blood sugar at normal levels. About 90% of people with diabetes have type 2. It develops over many years and is usually diagnosed in adults (but more and more in children, teens, and young adults). You may not notice any symptoms, so it’s important to get your blood sugar tested if you’re at risk. Type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed with healthy lifestyle changes, such as losing weight, eating healthy food, and being active.

Gestational diabetes develops in pregnant women who have never had diabetes. If you have gestational diabetes, your baby could be at higher risk for health problems. Gestational diabetes usually goes away after your baby is born but increases your risk for type 2 diabetes later in life. Your baby is more likely to have obesity as a child or teen, and more likely to develop type 2 diabetes later in life too.

With Prediabetes, blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough yet to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. Prediabetes raises your risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.  

Learn more here: https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/home/index.html

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Move Your Way

Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans and Move Your Way

Everyone needs physical activity to stay healthy. But it can be hard to find the time in your busy routine.

The Move Your Way tools, videos, and fact sheets on this page have tips that make it easier to get a little more active. And small changes can add up to big health benefits!

No matter who you are, you can find safe, fun ways to get active — to move your way.

Visit: https://health.gov/moveyourway/

Interactive Tools on Move Your Way:

The Move Your Way Activity Planner helps adults build a personalized weekly activity plan and offers tips for fitting activity into their daily routines. Check out the Activity Planner.

The Move Your Way Parent Interactive Graphic helps parents identify time in their family’s daily routine for kids to get the recommended 60 minutes of activity. See the Parent Interactive Graphic.

Exercise is for EVERY body!

People with Disabilities

Have limited mobility? You can exercise too! 

The National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD) is the premier resource for information on physical activity, health promotion, and disability serving persons with physical, sensory and cognitive disability across the lifespan.  NCHPAD features a variety of resources and services which can benefit all ages and populations.  Find them online at www.nchpad.org  

To view more resources and services which can benefit all ages and populations, visit https://www.youtube.com/user/NCPAD/featured

Seniors

Physical activity is an important part of healthy aging. To help you fit exercise and physical activity into your daily life, National Institutes on Aging created the Go4Life campaign. Go4Life offers free, evidence-based resources for older adults in one convenient place. https://go4life.nia.nih.gov/

Physical activity is an important part of healthy aging. Try these Go4Life workout videos to help you fit exercise and physical activity into your daily life. https://go4life.nia.nih.gov/workout-videos/

See more Healthy Aging Resources for Seniors Below.

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Move Your Way link: Want to get more physical activity? Build a weekly plan

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Healthy Eating Resources

Choose My Plate

MyPlate is a reminder to find your healthy eating style and build it throughout your lifetime. Everything you eat and drink matters. The right mix can help you be healthier now and in the future. This means:

  • Focus on variety, amount, and nutrition.
  • Choose foods and beverages with less saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars.
  • Start with small changes to build healthier eating styles.
  • Support healthy eating for everyone.

Eating healthy is a journey shaped by many factors, including our stage of life, situations, preferences, access to food, culture, traditions, and the personal decisions we make over time. All your food and beverage choices count. MyPlate offers ideas and tips to help you create a healthier eating style that meets your individual needs and improves your health. For a colorful visual of MyPlate and the 5 food groups, download What's MyPlate All About?.

For more Information, Visit: https://www.choosemyplate.gov/

The ChooseMyPlate.gov website includes a number of printable materials which are available as downloadable PDFs.  Visit: https://www.choosemyplate.gov/myplate-tip-sheets

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Sleep

Not getting enough sleep is linked with many chronic diseases and conditions—such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and depression—that threaten our nation’s health. 

Not getting enough sleep can lead to motor vehicle crashes and mistakes at work, which cause a lot of injury and disability each year. 

Getting enough sleep is not a luxury—it is something people need for good health. Sleep disorders can also increase a person’s risk of health problems. However, these disorders can be diagnosed and treated, bringing relief to those who suffer from them. - From the CDC Sleep page.  https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/index.html

Click on Image to go to healthychildren.org Sleep page

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Other Sleep Resources:

American Sleep Association website: https://www.sleepassociation.org/

National Sleep Foundation website: https://www.sleepfoundation.org/

Mental health Resources

Office of Community Services for Warren and Washington Counties

The Office of Community Services for Warren and Washington Counties serves as the Mental Health Department for both Warren and Washington Counties. New York State Mental Hygiene Law directs local governments to either "provide or arrange for preventive, rehabilitative, and treatment services for the mentally ill, the mentally retarded and developmentally disabled, and those suffering from the disease of alcoholism and substance abuse."

230 Maple St. Suite 1, Glens Falls, NY 12801
(518) 792-7143
Fax: (518) 792-7166

For more information visit: http://www.warrencountyny.gov/mhcs/

Local Mental Health Resources

Adirondack Samaritan Counseling Center
Catholic Charities
Conifer Park
Ellis Hospital
Four Winds Hospital
Glens Falls Hospital Behavioral Health Unit
Hudson Headwaters Health Network
Liberty House
National Alliance for the Mentally Ill – NYS
Northeast Parent and Child Society
Office of Children and Family Services
Parsons Child & Family Center
Peter Young Housing, Industries and Treatment
Prospect Child and Family Center

Rose House

St. Anne Institute
VanderHeyden Hall
Washington County Mental Health/Community Services

Warren-Washington Association for Mental Health, Inc. (WWAMH)

The Mission of the Warren-Washington Association for Mental Health, Inc. (WWAMH) is to improve the quality of life for those affected by mental illness and to promote the awareness and importance of mental wellbeing in the community.

MentalHealth.gov

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

Over the course of your life, if you experience mental health problems, your thinking, mood, and behavior could be affected. Many factors contribute to mental health problems, including:

  • Biological factors, such as genes or brain chemistry
  • Life experiences, such as trauma or abuse
  • Family history of mental health problems

Mental health problems are common but help is available. People with mental health problems can get better and many recover completely.

Visit: https://www.mentalhealth.gov/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MentalHealth.gov/

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Crisis Text Line

Crisis Text Line serves anyone, in any type of crisis, providing access to free, 24/7 support and information via a medium people already use and trust: text. Here’s how it works: Texting In

Text HOME to 741741  to be connected to a crisis counselor.

Website: https://www.crisistextline.org/

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Emotional Wellness

How you feel can affect your ability to carry out everyday activities, your relationships, and your overall mental health. How you react to your experiences and feelings can change over time. Emotional wellness is the ability to successfully handle life’s stresses and adapt to change and difficult times.  Visit https://www.nih.gov/health-information/emotional-wellness-toolkit 

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Healthy Relationships

Relationships—whether they’re love or friendships—are more than things we want, they’re necessities for us to be our happiest, healthiest, most productive selves. -HelpGuide.org

Here are some things from HelpGuide.org that will help you build healthy relationships:

Communication Includes Effective Communication, Non-Verbal Communication, Conflict Resolution Skills and more.

Love & Relationships  Includes Making Good Friends and Relationship Help

Love Is Respect Website: Their purpose is to engage, educate and empower young people to prevent and end abusive relationships. Website: https://www.loveisrespect.org/

Asthma

Asthma is a disease that affects your lungs. It is one of the most common long-term diseases of children, but adults can have asthma, too. Asthma causes wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing at night or early in the morning. If you have asthma, you have it all the time, but you will have asthma attacks only when something bothers your lungs.

In most cases, we don’t know what causes asthma, and we don’t know how to cure it. We know that if someone in your family has asthma you are more likely to have it.

For more on Asthma, visit the CDC page: https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/faqs.htm

Healthy Heart, Blood Pressure & Stroke

 American Heart Association  Health Topics

Learn the facts about heart conditions and stroke so you can increase your confidence in making changes to improve and maintain your health. https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics

Understanding your condition and how to manage it can increase your confidence in making changes to improve and maintain your health.

Answers by Heart is a series of downloadable patient information sheets presented in a question-and-answer format that's brief, easy to follow and easy to read. They also provide room for you to write down questions to ask your doctor. This can help you prepare to get the most out of your next visit with your healthcare professional. Some of the sheets also allow you to log and track personal data such as blood pressure, cholesterol, weight and exercise. answers-by-heart-fact-sheets

Blood Pressure

The only way to know if you have high blood pressure (HBP, or hypertension) is to have your blood pressure tested. Understanding your results is key to controlling high blood pressure. 

Your blood pressure is recorded as two numbers:

  • Systolic blood pressure (the first number) – indicates how much pressure your blood is exerting against your artery walls when the heart beats.
  • Diastolic blood pressure (the second number) – indicates how much pressure your blood is exerting against your artery walls while the heart is resting between beats.

Visit the American Heart Associations page to learn more: Understanding-blood-pressure-readings

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Stroke

According to the American Heart Association, stroke is a disease that affects the arteries leading to and within the brain. It is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the United States. 80% of Strokes are Preventable! 

Visit their site to learn about the different types of stroke, risk factors and more:American Heart Association: About Stroke

Click below to to go to American Heart Association Stroke Sypmtoms

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Healthy Aging

Adopting healthy habits and behaviors, staying involved in your community, using preventive services, managing health conditions, and understanding all your medications can contribute to a productive and meaningful life.  

For more information visit the Health and Human Services Resource list Page for Healthy Aging.  There, you can find resources for Staying active, Staying Connected, Nutrition for Older Adults, Locating Benefits and Finding Care, Mental Health, Brain Health, and Diseases and Conditions. https://www.hhs.gov/aging/healthy-aging/index.html

You can also visit the National Institute on Aging page: https://www.nia.nih.gov/health  There, you can browse A-Z Health Topics, find information on Alzheimer's and Dementia, Caregiving, research, Cognitive heath, Nutrition, Physical Activity and more. They have lots of publications too.

You can visit their page Go4Life for physical activity information, including videos you can follow along with.  https://go4life.nia.nih.gov/


HIV and Older Adults

* 17% of newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS cases in New York State are among adults 50 years or older, which is higher than the national statistics, showing 15% of newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS cases in the United States are among adults 50 years or older. 

Learn more in the New York State Department of Health Publication "Sex Never Gets Old".

You may also visit the National Institute on Aging's page: Sexuality in Later Life

Sexuality and Aging: Keeping the passion and flame alive. Sexual feelings don’t disappear as you age.  Learn more at :  http://ageisnotacondom.org/en/sexuality-andaging/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ageisnotacondom/ 

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