A good home care routine is one of the most important steps in dental hygiene. There are now many tools on the market that make it easier and more efficient to do our daily cleaning. Today, I’d like to focus on water flossers, one of the best tools to help improve oral care at home.… Read more »
Medical News
Eisenhower Residency Program Turns 10
- By Lauren Del Sarto
- July/August 2022
It has been 10 years since the first class of 22 newly graduated doctors entered Eisenhower Health to begin their residency in internal and family medicine. Today, 222 have successfully graduated from the four-year program with an additional 110 currently enrolled. The program has grown significantly and now includes emergency medicine, pharmacy, advanced nursing, fellowships… Read more »
Hospice 101: Navigating Through a Life-Limiting Illness
- Compliments of Serenity Hospice
- July/August 2022
Talking about end-of-life care can be difficult and sometimes overwhelming, especially when someone has been recently diagnosed with a terminal-illness. From the start of a diagnosis, there is so much information, from doctors to personal family opinions; it’s a lot to process. Knowing the facts and understanding the basics of hospice can help you and… Read more »
Choosing a Medical Rehab Facility
- By Tammy Porter, DNP, MLS, RN-BSN, CPHQ, CCM
- July/August 2022
After an injury, medical procedure or extended hospital stay, an important step in the recovery process may be a period of rehabilitation. Choosing the right rehab facility can be daunting, especially if this is your first time needing services or you are new to the community. Following are some important tips to help choose a… Read more »
Top Honors for LifeStream
- By Lauren Del Sarto
- July/August 2022
California Nonprofits Day celebrated its seventh anniversary on June 8, honoring 109 outstanding organizations selected by legislators from across California for their commendable contributions to their communities. In the Inland Empire’s District 47, LifeStream Blood Bank was named 2022 California Nonprofit of the Year by Assembly Majority Leader Eloise Reyes. “We are honored to be… Read more »
Know the Signs of Stroke
- By Lauren Del Sarto
- May/June 2022
In medicine, when research is conducted and systems improved, lives are saved. Such is the case with the acronym FAST which was first launched nationally in 2013 to generate awareness for the signs of stroke: face dropping, arm weakness, speech difficulty, time to call 911. Now, research has identified symptoms missed and two have… Read more »
There is No Shame in Struggle
- By Kelly Lewallen, LMFT
- May/June 2022
We all go through tough times. It is normal to feel anxious, sad, grief, uncertainty and a host of other feelings within the same month – or even the same day. Throughout the pandemic, many individuals have struggled with isolation, financial hardship, and simple boredom. To top it off, political strife, human rights violations and… Read more »
Emergency Room or Urgent Care?
- By Tammy Porter, DNP, MLS, RN-BSN, CPHQ, CCM
- May/June 2022
On Sunday afternoon, your cold seems worse, you have a headache and are vomiting with a fever. Do you head to the emergency room (ER), urgent care or call your doctor in the morning? This dilemma is common and can be costly. In fact, the cost difference can be well over $2,000 in some… Read more »
Still Moving Forward
- By Students Noor Diab and Olivia Dore
- May/June 2022
The COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be a challenge; however, students at the Palm Desert High School Health Academy (PDHA) are trying to make the best of the situation and continue to push forward despite adversity. The pandemic has created many obstacles to how the academy typically runs, but despite these unique circumstances, students are… Read more »
Mental Fasting
- By Jeralyn Brossfield, MD
- May/June 2022
We have been hearing a lot about the benefits of intermittent fasting as decreased inflammation and weight loss often accompany eating less or eating in less hours of the day. The main reason this works is because of autophagy (“aa-TAA-fuh-jee”), which is the self-cleaning our body does when we have fasted more than 10 hours.… Read more »
“Team Freedom” Supports Life Without Limits
- By Calista Vassios
- May/June 2022
United Cerebral Palsy of the Inland Empire (UCPIE) has been creating smiles, freedom and belonging since 2012 with their adaptive bike program and Team Freedom at Tour de Palm Springs. Each bike is custom made to support the rider’s abilities and helps them meet their physical therapy goals. Riders discover a newfound freedom on their… Read more »
Improve Our World with Random Acts of Kindness
- By Susan Murphy, PhD
- May/June 2022
What if kindness were a muscle? How could you strengthen your kindness muscle? Muscles develop through repetitious exercise that is focused and disciplined. Can you imagine the world if everyone exercised their kindness muscles daily? Our homes would be more joyful, marriages would be thriving, workplaces would be more collaborative and engaging. Even the news… Read more »
You Are Not Your Trauma
- By Dipika Patel, CHHC
- May/June 2022
Do you find yourself repeating past hurts, habits and hang-ups? Maybe they only show up in some areas of your life, or maybe they are showing up in all areas. Maybe you think that it’s everyone else’s fault, and you did not create the experience you are having. Do you feel down and heavy because… Read more »
The Perils of Paradise
- By Lauren Del Sarto
- March/April 2022
“Just another sunny day in paradise,” my father-in-law would say when we came to the desert to visit. Now a local, I repeat it often. We all love our beautiful valley, but living and playing here takes some awareness and preparation. With March upon us, outdoor activities abound as do the many opportunities to celebrate.… Read more »
The gift of choice is what makes us human. The psychologist Albert Bandura wrote extensively about our free will to choose and described our human choice as “agency.” In his words, agency refers to the human capability to influence one’s functioning and the course of events by one’s actions. In our health experiences it is… Read more »
Sharing Student Mental Wellness Resources
- By Students Dana Santos Patron, Aylin Andrade, George Vaca and Freddy Centeno Rodriguez
- March/April 2022
Online learning during the pandemic fueled the rise in mental illness. As behavioral health students in the Health Academy at Coachella Valley High School, we knew that we were negatively impacted by the pandemic and three out of the four of us felt that our abilities faltered through online learning. A survey conducted at Coachella… Read more »
Brushing Up on Oral Health
- By Nick Baumann, DDS
- March/April 2022
Home hygiene is the most important factor in keeping a healthy mouth and, of course, it starts with our toothbrush. There are two main classes of toothbrushes: traditional manual and electric. The vast majority of Americans still use a manual toothbrush. This is not a bad thing, as a good manual toothbrush with soft bristles… Read more »
Is the Pandemic Ending?
- By Bachir Younes, MD, MPH
- March/April 2022
Vaccinating the whole world against smallpox was one of the most important scientific achievements of the 20th century. Smallpox is a great example of the success of vaccine-mediated eradication of a deadly virus in humans which required a global initiative that combined high levels of vaccine coverage and active surveillance.1 How viruses spread Transmissibility and… Read more »
Important Tips for Hospital Stays
- By Tammy Porter, DNP, MLS, RN-BSN, CPHQ, CCM
- March/April 2022
Hospitals are expected to be a place of healing, leading to wellness and a return home. However, the longer a patient stays in the hospital, the greater the risk for a health care-associated infection (HAI) from a catheter or surgical site, or a health care-acquired condition (HAC) such as a fall with fracture. With an… Read more »
Embracing The Law of Attraction
- By Susan Murphy, PhD
- March/April 2022
The Law of Attraction is the belief that “like attracts like.” The principle states that if you think positive thoughts, you will have positive results; if you think negative thoughts, you will have negative results. You attract what you think about. An everyday example of the Law of Attraction is when you start thinking about… Read more »