Final assessment Unit 9

This is my assessment and plan for teh future. I hope I can live up to it all

 

To have credibility in any healthcare profession, it has to show to the patients that you take what you teach seriously. This means that you have to show your patients that you take your own health seriously. For example it is difficult to take nutrition advice from someone that eats hostess cakes for meals.

The easiest to tell is the physical aspect of health. Even if you are not “fit” it helps to show energy and stamina. This can be obtained without having a six pack stomach. Simply being able to move with confidence gives the patient confidence in your physical health.

Psychological health is harder to portray to patients but it is still possible. Those who are psychologically sound can show confidence and poise in any situation. By being in control of one’s self, one can control the situation. This shows to patients as much as a frenetic hyper-energy personality does. Being in control can make the patient(s) feel better about you being their provider.

Spiritual health is the hardest to reach and to understand. A provider that is spiritually sound can let go of their “self” and truly come to understand what patients need. This can give better end results for the patient and makes a much more comfortable patient-provider relationship.

My personal areas that need the most work are in the physical category. I am 40 pounds overweight with some physical health issues such as a bulging disc in my lower back and a slow healing tendon tear in my shoulder. The back and shoulder make it difficult to exercise like I used to but there are still options that I can take advantage of. I have started walking and next week I will get the Bow flex out of storage. Before each Bow flex session I intend to go through a stretching regimen to obtain better flexibility.

 

Assessment

This week I did another self-assessment as described in chapter 11 in the Integral Health text and came up with the following. In all areas the scores are on a 1-10 scale.

In the psycho-spiritual quadrant I scored 8 in cognitive, 7 in conative, and 6 in emotional. I gave myself an 8 in cognitive because I have been seeking larger truths for more than a decade. I have come to many conclusions concerning the human condition and feel that I am strong in this area. I gave a 7 in conative because I have not yet reached the spiritual level here. Most if not all of my drives in life are still in the psychological range. I have gotten beyond the reactive and ego driven lifestyle and do my best at all times to act, not react. When I have truly mastered this I feel that I will be ready to move into the spiritual realm. I gave a 6 in emotional because this is my weakest area in this quadrant. I still have some issues that I have not mastered. They still come to me in my dreams and when I am feeling weak. I have however overcome the uncontrolled rage and desires of my youth. This takes me out of the beginning stages and puts me in the middle of development.

In the biological realm I gave myself a 5 in fitness, 6 in nutrition, and 5 in self-regulation. I scored fitness at a 5 because I have started walking to obtain better fitness and I make daily decisions like choosing the stairs instead of the elevator. I also have made an active effort to work on my house and in the yard myself instead of hiring out. I gave a 6 in nutrition due to my efforts in choosing a balanced diet with some sugary treats, but I have not reached the level of choosing my diet based on environment or world hunger. A 5 in self-regulation is because I have just begun the mind-body practices that are necessary for this area of growth.

In the interpersonal quadrant I achieved scores of 7 in personal, 6 in family, and 6 in community. The 7 in personal is because I have reached a high level of understanding of self. I have not however reached growth in my ability to communicate with others in an unfamiliar environment. The 6 in family is because I have reached strong bonds and health with the family I created with my wife however I have grown distant from my parent and siblings. The 6 in community is for the fact that I have become comfortable in working with the public but have not engaged the public in a giving manner like volunteering my time.

My development in the worldly quadrant rendered the highest overall scores. The scores were 8 in generativity, 5 in social-activism, and 8 in work. The 8 in generativity is because I love to teach. I am a Clinical Instructor for Indian Hills Community College at the hospital I work at. I am part of the process improvement team at work also. The 5 in social-activism is only because I give blood regularly. I am socially inept in unfamiliar circumstances and must work to become better in these situations. The 8 in work is because I identify myself with my work and therefore put a lot of myself into it. I am constantly looking for ways to become more efficient or provide a better service. I believe this puts me high on the rank of work.

Goal Development

My goals in the physical area are to have lost 15 pounds and wake up every day with less pain.

My psychological goal is to have easy access to a still mind at will. This will help to foster the ability to do my practices such as loving-kindness, or meditation.

My spiritual goal is to learn my deeper self and who I am and can be.

Practices for Personal Health

To reach the goal; of weight loss I will continue to walk every day at least for 15 minutes. I will also set up and use the Bow flex 3 times a week and set up a stretching program before each weight training session. The stretching will also hopefully decrease the muscle and tendon pain I have every day.

To achieve the witnessing mind I will do the loving-kindness and subtle-mind exercises daily. This will increase my ability to abide in the calm and have it with me at all times. With this achieved I will be better able to assess the world around me and how I fit into it.

The calm-abiding that can be achieved will allow me to truly assess myself without prejudice. With this assessment I can begin to know my deeper self and then know what steps I need to take to reach flourishing. There are many barriers to reaching this lofty goal but by taking them one at a time and staying with it I can succeed.

Commitment

The first of December I will go through another self-assessment. At that time I will be able to compare where I am to the assessment in this paper. I will do this again in March. This will tell me quarterly what progress I am making and where I need to most focus my efforts. In March I will look back to see if I have met my goals and ask myself why or why not.

I will also look for a spiritual leader who has obtained peace and wisdom. By finding Mentor(s), I will have someone to answer to and make more likely to work harder as well as give me someone to learn from.

Practicing loving-kindness, subtle-mind, and exercising daily will help me to keep focused and create a habit/ritual to keep me going.

 

References

Dacher, E. (2006). Integral Health. Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications