Remember: your mental health is equally important as your physical health!!
Have you ever needed a mental break or stress reliever, but didn’t know what to do? Here are some of our favorite ways to calm our minds and de-stress!.
Digital Detox
Spending hours scrolling through social media can be detrimental to our mental health, even if we don’t realize it. Take a break from the mindless scrolling for the evening or day.
Practice mindfulness
Becoming more mindful allows us to become aware of where we are and what we’re doing, without becoming overwhelmed. Find a quiet spot where you can sit alone for just a few minutes. Follow the sensation of your breath as it goes in and out. When you notice your mind has begun to wander, return your attention to your breathing.
Gratitude
It’s easy to go throughout the day focusing on the negatives rather than the positives. At the end of the day or week, reflect on the highs and positives you experienced. Keep a journal to write them in, or simply think about them as you drift off to sleep.
Self-care
Take a hot bath, go for a walk, cook your favorite dinner, or simply go outside for some fresh air. Be sure you are taking time to relax and nourish your mind.
Evolve Behavioral Health and Medication Management offers individual (adults and children), family, and group counseling at locations in Little Rock, Malvern, Arkadelphia, Hot Springs, Mount Ida, and Mena. Call 800-409-6250 for appointments. Visit www.evolvebhs.com for more information.
Please be aware of the following schedule changes for our Healthy Connections Community Health Network clinics in LIttle Rock on July 5 and 6, 2021.
Closed Monday, July 5:
Closed Tuesday, July 6:
All other clinics will be open July 5 and 6 for their normal schedule.
Call 888-710-8220 for information and appointments.
For the safety of our patients, visitors, and staff, the Healthy Connections Community Health Network will continue to require masks in accordance with current Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Healthy Connections, Inc., and CEO Tony Calandro have been named finalists in the Arkansas Business 33rd Annual Business of the Year awards.
Healthy Connections, Inc., is a finalist for Nonprofit Organization of the Year, while Calandro is a finalist for Nonprofit Executive of the Year. The winners of each category will be revealed at the awards ceremony on March 3, 2021. Finalists were selected by an outside panel of judges and coordinated by Arkansas Business. Thirty-two finalists are selected from across the state in seven categories. See the complete list of finalists at www.ArkansasBusiness.com/ABOY.
Read the story about Healthy Connections, Inc., in Arkansas Business by clicking this link: https://www.arkansasbusiness.com/events/3/arkansas-business-of-the-year/honorees/792/healthy-connections-inc
Read the story about Calandro in Arkansas Business by clicking this link: https://www.arkansasbusiness.com/events/3/arkansas-business-of-the-year/honorees/795/tony-calandro
Healthy Connections is a Mena-based nonprofit community health network with clinic locations in Mena, Hot Springs, Little Rock, Malvern, Arkadelphia, Mount Ida, and De Queen. Since its founding as a home-visiting program in 1998, Healthy Connections has been able to provide much-needed health, dental, behavioral health, and social services to families of every lifestyle.
Learn more about Healthy Connections at www.healthy-connections.org.
Healthy Connections, Inc., is proud to announce that Dr. Pittman Moore will begin seeing patients for women’s health and gynecology at the Healthy Connections Community Health Network clinic location in Mena.
Dr. Moore, who joined Healthy Connections in 2019, also sees patients in Hot Springs, Arkadelphia, and Little Rock. He will now come to Mena two days each month to see patients at 136 Health Park Lane, which is the flagship location for Healthy Connections.
To schedule appointments with Dr. Moore, please call 888-710-8220. Learn more about the services he provides at www.healthy-connections.org/women.
Dr. Moore’s services include:
- Gynecology
- Well-woman exams
- BioTE bioidentical hormone therapy for both men and women
- Infertility evaluation and initial treatment
- Vaginal, laparoscopic, and supracervical hysterectomy
- Pelvic floor repair
In addition to the Mena location, Dr. Moore also sees patients at:
The Healthy Connections Community Health Network is made up of primary care, pediatrics, specialty, behavioral health, and dental clinics throughout west and Central Arkansas. Healthy Connections is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) and accepts Medicaid, ARKids 1st, Medicare, and most private health insurance. There is also a sliding-fee scale for patients without health insurance who qualify. Note that Medicaid patients may be required to switch their primary care provider to Healthy Connections before they can be seen.
Learn more about Healthy Connections at www.healthy-connections.org.
February is recognized as National Children’s Dental Health Month. This observance brings together dental and healthcare professionals to promote the benefits of good oral health to children, their caregivers, teaches, and many others.
Healthy Connections offers dental services for both children and adults at our Community Health Network clinics in Mena (136 Health Park Lane) and Hot Springs (1723 Malvern Ave. Call 888-710-8220 for appointments. Visit www.healthy-connections.org/teeth for more info.
It quite possible many parents will have a common refrain at dinnertime tonight: “You’d better eat that. It’s good for you.”
But there’s another old favorite in the parental arsenal of dietary admonitions: “Don’t eat that. It’ll rot your teeth.”
Now more than ever, children are faced with a bewildering array of food choices – from fresh produce to sugar-laden processed convenience meals and snack foods. What children eat and when they eat it may affect not only their general health but also their oral health.
Americans are consuming foods and drink high in sugar and starches more often and in larger portions than ever before. It’s clear that junk foods and drinks gradually have replaced nutritious beverages and foods for many people. For example, in the U.S., on average, individuals consume approximately 50 gallons of sugary beverages per year! Alarmingly, a steady diet of sugary foods and drinks can ruin teeth, especially among those who snack throughout the day.
Common activities may contribute to the tendency toward tooth decay. These include – grazing habitually on foods with minimal nutritional value, and frequently sipping on sugary drinks. Consuming too much sugar can also affect your overall health, such as becoming overweight/obese, or getting heart disease or Type 2 diabetes.
When sugar is consumed over and over again in large, often hidden amounts, the harmful effect on teeth can be dramatic. Sugar on teeth provides food for bacteria, which produce acid. The acid in turn can eat away the enamel on teeth. Almost all foods have some type of sugar that cannot and should not be eliminated from our diets.
Many of these foods contain important nutrients and add enjoyment to eating. But there is a risk for tooth decay from a diet high in sugars and starches. Starches can be found in everything from bread to pretzels to salad dressing, so read labels and plan carefully for a balanced, nutritious diet for you and your children.
Reduce your children’s risk of tooth decay:
- Sugary foods and drinks should be consumed with meals. Saliva production increases during meals and helps neutralize acid production and rinse food particles from the mouth.
- Limit between-meal snacks. If children crave a snack, offer them nutritious foods.
- If your children chew gum, make it sugarless.
- Chewing sugarless gum after eating can increase saliva flow and help wash out food and decay-producing acid.
- Monitor beverage consumption. Children should make healthy beverage choices such as water and low-fat milk.
- Help your children develop good brushing and flossing habits.
- Schedule regular dental visits. Call 888-710-8220 to schedule appointments with the Healthy Connections Community Health Network. We offer dental services in both Mena and Hot Springs.
