Here are articles from our Prepared Patient feature series about promoting your health. These articles are based on interviews with experts and people around the country about some of their experiences making healthy lifestyle choices, getting support to change life-long habits, and living with chronic illness.

In the right column, Prepared Patient 411 offers online, phone and community resources to assist you. And in Related Research, we share the most current scientific research in brief news stories.

We invite you to share your own experiences promoting your health. You can post a reply to any of our featured articles, blogs and news stories.

Small Steps to Big Health Change We often give a chilly reception to the idea of going "cold turkey" when it comes to anything that has to do with changing behaviors and habits, even those that may be important for our health. And no wonder: habits become habits because they give us something we think we need. Maybe they make us feel better (hello, chocolate!) or they offer comfort, familiarity or convenience to our lives. Once we get used to doing things a certain way, the idea of changing a routine behavior can seem overwhelming. And we worry (with good reason) that we won’t be successful if we try to change our habits all at once. It turns out, the key to lasting behavior change is taking small steps. READ MORE
Chronic Conditions: When Do You Call the Doctor? The signs are everywhere — prescriptions doled out into weekly reminder boxes, blood glucose monitors in a desk drawer, maybe even an adrenaline injection pen stashed in a diaper bag for allergy emergencies. From high cholesterol to HIV, millions of Americans have a medical condition that they manage mostly on their own. READ MORE

 

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