Spiritual Health One Dimension of Wellness

[Posted in the 9/3/15 Homer News]
By Kyra Wagner

I recently went to a Buddhist retreat. The funny thing is, I’m not even a Buddhist.  Actually, I wasn’t raised in any kind of church. As a matter of fact, my ignorance about religion has been rather awkward and embarrassing at times in my life.

Though I have spent more time in my life with books about gardening than I have with sacred texts, even I know that spirituality is an important part of a person’s health. When the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) came up with the Eight Dimensions of Wellness, spiritual health was listed alongside aspects like physical, emotional and intellectual health.

So it is no surprise that the MAPP Steering Committee would include a minister alongside representatives from places like the hospital, mental health center and the college. Even with my awkwardness in regards to religion, it was a joy to talk to Reverend Lisa Talbott, pastor of the Homer United Methodist Church, about the role spirituality plays in community health.

Pastor Lisa pointed out that just talking about spirituality is a big step. We all have a belief system of some sort, but there are barriers to talking about it. She is great at breaking down these barriers whether they are built out of fear, shame or guilt, or even worry over treading on someone else’s beliefs.

She points out that even though each person has a different and deeply personal path, every spiritual tradition has certain elements, including:

• Cultivating compassion;

• Expressing gratitude;

• Finding the Sacred; and

• Creating connections.

Is there anything in that list that wouldn’t improve a person’s well-being?

Many parts of my conversation with Pastor Lisa reminded me of conversations a person could have with any health-care provider. As she described religion as a set of guidelines of discipline, I couldn’t help but compare it to exercise.

Just like an exercise routine improves a person’s health, a spiritual discipline also improves a person’s health. (As the nerd in me loves to point out and SAMHSA shows, it has been scientifically proven to be true.)

Lisa and I spent a lot of time talking about connection. It’s ironic because other groups working to improve community health with MAPP have been working on the same topic.

The more connected we are, the more resilient our community is. Our connections and relationships are what we fall back on in tough times so all aspects of our health depend on their strength.

After talking with Lisa, it was clear how spirituality weaves through every aspect of our connections with ourselves, others and our community. Our connection to ourselves is defined by how we know ourselves, learn to love and accept ourselves and live our lives so that they match our beliefs. We can nurture our connections to others as we get to know them and learn to love and accept them no matter their beliefs. And on a grander level, believing in something bigger than ourselves is key to spiritual health.

As Lisa puts it, spiritual “dis-ease” comes from lacking connection. Simply put, this is when we are not connected to ourselves, our relationships to others are not feeding us and we don’t have a bigger picture to connect to for guidance. This is why 12-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous encourage connection to a high power. Having something larger than ourselves to look up to can help us break out of the daily troubles.

Lisa points out that here in Homer we have a constant subtle reminder of something bigger than ourselves by just looking out the window at the wilderness, mountains and ocean. We are lucky that we live in a place with so many aspects that support us.

At one point Lisa described praying together with her Hindu roommate in seminary. I love adding that image of connection to my image of our community. The more diverse our community is, the more forms of support and connection we can realize. I may have gone to a Buddhist retreat to learn about mindfulness, but I can recognize that it is the same as the practice of prayer in other traditions.

As we connect as a community, hopefully the conversation can continue to include spiritual health as a key component of the conversation. It will only help us to define what will move us forward and what holds us back so we can, together, improve our community health.

Kyra Wagner is the coordinator of Sustainable Homer and a member of the MAPP steering committee.

KBC plays critical role in community health

Posted in the Homer News on 8/6/15

As school shopping begins and road trips to college start getting organized, families prepare for big transitions.

It may just be the leap from kindergarten to first grade, or maybe off to college far away, but families everywhere feel the impact. The health of our families is the top measure of our community health.

There are lots of ways to judge the health of a community, and it isn’t all physical and mental health. So this week I spoke with MAPP Steering Committee member Carol Swartz of the Kachemak Bay Campus to get her perspective on community health through the lens of education.

It doesn’t take more than five seconds of conversation to see how dedicated Carol is to this subject of education. As director of the campus here, she is in charge of orchestrating the 800 or so students a semester who participate in online and in-person classes, about 30 GED graduates a year, and around 120 workshops and classes offered each semester. There are seven degrees such as business or history that you can work toward at this campus, nine or so two-year degrees such as nursing, and 50-75 workshops for job training and personal enrichment.

So how does such a busy campus contribute to the health of our families? We need to look at the factors that make families more resilient in the face of hardship. Are they adaptive to change? Do they have a stable footing? Do they have the support they need to make it through tough times? How do we measure that?

Carol is a firm believer that by measuring enrollment we get an indicator of community health. There are three ways that education can contribute to family resiliency.

First of all there is the aspect of adaptability. If the main breadwinner in a household loses his or her job, how adaptable is that person to get another one before the whole family is thrown into chaos? As Carol pointed out, you can be in great physical health, but if you don’t have any skills it will be more difficult to attain any kind of economic health.

When the economy goes down, it is common to see college enrollment go up as people apply to get new skills and new job training so they can get new or better jobs. The campus is the resource in our community that allows people to have the adaptability needed for what their life demands.

But this brings up the question that if enrollment goes up when the economy goes down, then wouldn’t increased enrollment show that our overall community health is down? Not necessarily. Hard times are inevitable. What is important is how stable you can be in the face of those hard times.

Stability is the second aspect our local campus contributes.

Economic stress is a very real aspect of family and community health, and since tuition costs are often carried by many members of the family, this affects everyone.  Carol believes that is one of the reasons that the local campus has seen more enrollment in the last three to five years of students who graduate from our local high school. Keeping the costs down by living at home and knocking out basic classes before declaring a major or moving on to another campus can help a student, and their family, maintain a stable financial footing.

The third aspect that the campus contributes to family health goes beyond the education offered. It’s about relationships. While studying here at their local campus, students continue to use the networks of friends, neighbors and family that are familiar to them for support. This kind of support goes beyond the financial and quietly strengthens the family in ways that are hard to measure.

Other important relationships form between the professors and between the students. Just as research has shown that the resiliency of youth can be measured by whether or not they feel comfortable seeking help from at least one adult other than their parent, students succeed better when they feel comfortable seeking help from their professors and peers.

So it would seem that Carol is right when she says community health improves when you have an increase in enrollment. More adaptable, stable and connected families will simply be more resilient. That is the stable foundation that can keep someone going even if other parts of their life are difficult.

So as we head into August and the start of school looms ahead, think of all the opportunities it provides.  All education at all levels rewards us with the gifts of adaptability and resilience whether it is through the information learned or the relationships developed.

And all that simply adds up to better community health.

Kyra Wagner is the coordinator of Sustainable Homer and a member of the MAPP steering committee.

Tough financial times may be beneficial to our health?

[Published in the Homer News 6/4/15]

This month marks one extreme of our Alaskan calendar — the summer solstice is upon us with the raging return of light, the first farmers markets, the end of the school year, the explosion of green and the return of travelers, be they fur, fin, feather or people.

Layered upon the energetic buzz of this transitional time is the uncertainty of economic security for many community members and organizations. All members of our community are affected, be it directly or indirectly, by the gutted state budget that is in the throes of finalization. This is a stressful time. Thus, it is a particularly important time to extend empathy and compassion to others and ourselves.

Taking care of oneself and managing stress is hard work. It requires both learned and intuitive skills, ongoing dedication and the support of family and friends. If you already have your self-care routine down, this is a remarkable feat to be celebrated. The rest of us need your help.

Managing stress does take skills — particularly when we are bombarded with distractions and pulled in many directions.

Later this month, Homer-area residents will be receiving a package in the mail with information and resources to support individual and family resiliency. Most of the information included is tips on managing stress, taking care of oneself and fostering healthy relationships — timeless information that can benefit every single community member. This package is a culminating product of the Homer Prevention Project — a collaborative effort that has brought resiliency and how to overcome toxic stress to the community conversation.

We are expected to learn about managing stress and taking care of ourselves from our families, but we live in a culture and political system that has made it increasingly difficult for families to support these skills and provide nurturing environments. Over the last 40 years, the cost of living in comparison to the growth of wages is staggering. Citizens have had to work longer hours and sometimes take on multiple jobs just to ensure adequate income. Individuals and families are more and more stressed.

The United States population has a lower life expectancy than nearly all other rich countries, despite spending half of the world’s health care bill and having one of the highest gross national product (GNP) per capita. Correspondingly, the U.S. has some of the highest levels of poverty, poorest health outcomes and greatest health disparities of any rich country.

While it seems contradictory, multiple studies have documented improved health outcomes in United States populations during times of economic downturn. The population experiences increased leisure time with family and friends, exercise, healthier diets and increased sleep.

Additionally, economic downswings have shown increased engagement of citizens in the political process to redirect societal goals and wealth distribution. Economic upswings and expansion have been associated with increased stress: longer work hours, less sleep, increased wealth inequity, increased alcohol consumption and overeating, and increased isolation. Also, a population that is working most of the time is less involved in the political process that is directing societal goals.

According to the research, what leads to health in this state and country is not absolute wealth or growth but how Alaska’s and the United State’s resources are shared across the population.

While unlikely that economic downswings would be desired, these observations about our population health are cause for pause, reflection and action.

Our community vision is to be “Proactive, Innovative and Resilient.” While we head into a transitional time of economics, what proactive and innovative ways can we more equitably share our resources (financial and other) across our own community? What individual, family, school, community, state and national-level changes would support more time with family and friends, exercise, healthier diets, and more sleep?

It takes all levels of change — which level most inspires you?

At times like this, it’s good to remember this excerpt from a Green Dot tagline: “… No one has to do everything, but everyone has to do something.”

Megan Murphy is the MAPP coordinator and can be reached at mappofskp@gmail.com or 235-0570. All references for this article can be provided upon request.

Creating a Connected Community

[Posted in the Homer News on 5/7/15]

There is an African proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” This idea reinforces our ability to accomplish much more if we connect to address shared priorities.

It is inspiring to see this happening all over our community — from the HOPP playground project and Old Town Neighborhood revitalization to more than 10 collaborative efforts currently under way to address different aspects of community health. What makes these efforts even more remarkable is the emphasis on intentional and strategic connections with other community efforts.

Just last month, the Resilience Coalition, Homer Early Childhood Coalition and Homer Community Food Pantry all revisited their respective shared visions, missions and goals. The Homer On the Move Symposium, hosted by the Parks and Recreation Commission, brought together a network of trail users and enthusiasts to start developing a shared vision.

Example visions across these different groups include: a community that cultivates healthy relationships, free from violence and substance abuse; all children begin kindergarten ready to succeed; Homer-area trails are safe and connected networks; and all individuals have access to food, shelter and other basic needs.

Wow — imagine the end results of these complementary efforts! Each part builds on participants’ passions and contributes to greater community well-being.

A common thread within and across these groups is the power of connection — groups wanting to go farther, thus going together. The degree to which our citizens are connected reflects the strength and resiliency of our community.

This type of community connection doesn’t just happen, however. It results from having connections on multiple other levels — starting with one’s connection to self. As Larry Merculieff, a Native elder from St. Paul Island, says, “You can’t create anything on the outside that you haven’t created on the inside first. If I’m disconnected on the inside, I’m disconnected on the outside.”

How can each and every one of us foster connection?

Three simple examples include:

1. Positively participate in and nurture the development of young children;

2. Closely observe our individual needs and take responsibility, even if it means asking for help, in self-care; and

3. Extend caring communication to others.

As studies of health and well-being continue to be fine-tuned, findings are reinforcing and legitimizing simple truths that the prevailing culture discredits as it values profits over people. Studies everywhere are showing the foundational importance that love and compassion in one’s relationship to self, others, environment and spirit have on our individual and collective well-being. There is a great deal of evidence that reinforces a need to refocus our values.

However, as Albert Einstein said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

A New York physician, Mark Hyman, has successfully demonstrated that chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity can be treated by shifting our mindset and actions away from “treating disease” to instead focusing on “creating health.” This is done through innovative community-based efforts that support self-care and caring for one another.

We are lucky to live in a community with multiple community-based efforts under way that support self-care and caring for one another. These efforts are reinforcing a community culture that empowers individuals to make small changes. The benefits are mutually-reinforcing — as many individuals making small changes contributes to the larger community culture.

Be it holding a door and saying “hello” to a stranger, setting positive intentions for your day, doing a “green dot” and de-escalating a tense situation, or actively serving in community efforts — these acts all add up to the larger community culture.

Here is a proposition for a community vision: A community that encourages and supports self-care, so that we are more able to connect with our selves, our families, our friends, our fellow community members, and our environment. A community that “goes far together” by creating health through connection.

Would you like to go together?

Megan Murphy is the MAPP coordinator and can be reached at mappofskp@gmail.com or 235-0570. 

The Power of We

[Published in the 4/23/15 Homer News]

Much research has been done on the “Power of Five.” Five food groups make up a healthy diet. Five points make up a glowing star. Five senses help us interpret the world.

According to Helping Little Kids Succeed Alaskan Style,  “Five is the key number of caring adults that every child needs in his or her life.” These adults are not bystanders, they are “connected, committed and genuinely concerned about (her) well being.” The number five plays a powerful role in guiding our children down the path of success.

One of MAPP’s community shared measures for family resiliency is “that each child feel comfortable seeking help from at least one adult other than their parent.” Five adults, one adult — it is undisputed that every child needs and deserves a support person other than their parent(s).

I have a new challenge: Let’s all offer support for our children. We can be the foundation for resiliency. We can promote building healthy relationships with our children by being community role models. We can support local child care providers and teachers by donating our time and our resources. We can stay informed on the latest research and impacts on a child’s growth by attending trainings, presentations and workshops. We can connect families to local resources by learning of what’s available and by joining an early learning organization. We can show interest in our children by engaging them.

Giving a high five, a reassuring nod, sharing a story — all simple ways to let a small child know you care. All ways to show the children of Homer that we care.

“Red” Lisa Asselin, Coordinator

Homer Early Childhood Coalition