What are the health risks of stress? What are the health benefits of stress management? How can poverty-related stressors and racial discrimination create synergistic effects? Learn why there is a crucial need for stress management services, especially for indigent and underserved populations, and how public health education can play a role in providing these services. Find out how to design a stress management program that emphasizes the balance between physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual health and where to obtain the skills and resources necessary to teach such a program. Discover what barriers healthcare providers face in referring patients for stress management services, and how to help them overcome these barriers. Learn how to customize discussion topics, adapt printed materials, increase attendance and adherence, and overcome monetary and transportation barriers to address the specific needs of an indigent population. In addition, learn how to culturally tailor a stress management program for an urban African American population in the South by overcoming perceptual barriers (there may be fewer problems than you'd think), employing storytelling techniques, incorporating spiritual beliefs, and utilzing extended family and community support. How can you measure the success of such a program? Learn how to identify assessment tools to measure reductions in perceived stress, increases in coping skills, and improvements in health outcomes. Finally, reflect on the future directions for stress management and the need to clarify the role of public health in mind/body medicine.
Learning Objectives: The participant will be able to: 1. List the health risks of stress. 2. List the health benefits of stress management. 3. Articulate why stress management is especially important to indigent and underserved populations. 4. Describe a stress management program that emphasizes the balance between physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual health. 5. Determine where to obtain the skills and resources necessary to teach a stress management program. 6. Describe how to tailor a stress management program for an indigent African American population. 7. Identify assessment tools to measure perceived stress, coping skills, and health outcomes. 8. Recognize the role of public health in stress management education and research.
Keywords: Stress, Poverty
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Grady Health System, Atlanta, GA
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.