Get Moving This Summer!

Take advantage of the warm weather this summer and get moving. Choosing to be physically active is one lifestyle choice you can make that will significantly impact your health. Our bodies were meant to move, and the health benefits we get from being physically active are proof.

Did you know that regular physical activity can help you sleep better, keep your thinking and judgment skills sharp, and reduce your risk of depression and anxiety? Being physically active also helps you manage your weight and reduces your risk of heart disease and related risk factors like obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. 

All adults should aim to be physically active for 150 minutes every week. For example, you can improve your health by doing moderate to vigorous exercise for 25 minutes every day of the week. However, you will see health benefits with any physical activity, so start where you are and build up your time.  Keep yourself motivated by following these steps:

• Choose activities you enjoy. You don’t have to be an athlete or go for long runs. You can achieve health benefits simply by going on a brisk walk.  If you aren’t used to being physically active, this is a great place to start.

• Find pockets of time throughout your day to be active. You don’t need an extra hour or two and a gym membership to be active. Wake up a few minutes early to get in a quick 15-minute walk or workout, take a brisk walk on your lunch break, or take a family walk or bike ride after dinner. Think about the sedentary activities you do during the day and replace them with something more active. Once you have identified the best times for you to be physically active throughout your day, set aside that time and make it part of your daily routine.

• Stay motivated. If you have a hard time being active choose an activity to do with a friend or family member. Make a plan and stick to it! 

According to Robert Butler from the National Institute on Aging. “If exercise could be packaged in a pill, it would be the single most widely prescribed and beneficial medicine in the nation.”

So, if you want to improve your health and well-being, get moving today!

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Inspiring!

We have always felt supported by our community, but the support shown lately is nothing short of inspiring!

We have received donations of masks that we can distribute to our high risk patients, we have had partners reach out to check in on our patients and staff regularly, we received an appreciation lunch for staff, financial donations, emergency fund grants and even a virtual quarantine marathon fundraiser was held benefitting our clinic.

We are serving our patients, accepting new patients and providing information to the community. None of this would be possible without your tremendous support! We are always grateful, but your generosity has blown us away and truly impacts the lives of people in our community! Thank you for all you do!

February is Heart Month

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States. Every year, 1 in 4 deaths are caused by heart disease. Nearly half of American adults have high blood pressure, but many do not even know they have it. Uncontrolled high blood pressure is far too common. Although high blood pressure does not always display signs or symptoms, it does have consequences for your health.

The good news? Heart disease can often be prevented when people make healthy choices and manage their health conditions. Communities, health professionals, and families can work together to create opportunities for people to make healthier choices. This is why American Heart Month has been celebrated since 1963. This national health observance is designed to engage Americans in the battle against heart disease. This year, the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention will emphasize controlling high blood pressure for heart protection.

The only way to understand your risk for high blood pressure is to take action and talk to your provider today!

 

Smoking Cessation – a service offered at MFMC

Hello MFMC patients, families, and friends! I am Pallavi, a volunteer at the clinic. This month I would like to share with you some very important information about smoking. Most importantly, how the clinic can help you quit if you are looking to!

What are the consequences of smoking?

Smoking causes and increases the risk for the leading causes of death in the U.S including…

~Coronary heart disease

~Lung, Stomach, Pancreas, Colon, Liver, Blood, and more Cancers

~Stroke

~Lung disease (COPD, emphysema)

 

Why is smoking addictive?

~ Cigarettes contain Nicotine.

~Nicotine is an addictive chemical that alters the brain.

~Smoking cigarettes causes a person to become dependent on Nicotine and feel anxious and irritable without it.

 

What is the real price of smoking?

~According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), “Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States with over 480,000 U.S deaths per year”.

 

How can the clinic help me QUIT smoking?

~ The Clinic’s dedicated staff do many things to help patients quit smoking!

~ MFMC’s wonderful pharmacist can…

• Provide you with the facts you should know about smoking.
• Work with you to find alternatives to smoking and helping you change habits.
• Determine and prescribe the appropriate method to quitting smoking whether nicotine replacement therapy or prescriptions.
• Last but not least, refer you to educational and helpful resources.

 

What are the benefits of quitting Smoking?

~According to smokefree.gov, “Quitting can lower your blood pressure and heart rate almost immediately. Your risk of a heart attack declines within 24 hours.

~Risk of stroke decreases

~Preventing Lung disease

~Reduce belly fat

~Lower the risk of diabetes

~Stronger immune system

~Stronger muscle and bones

 

Please and Thank you!

~ So please, if you smoke and are looking to quit, use the clinic’s services! There are many resources and people at the clinic ready to help you quit. If you can not make it to the clinic but would still like to quit smoking, find information at 1-800-QUIT-NOW.

Thanks for reading and please revisit the blog next month for another post!

By Pallavi Patil

May is Mental Health Awareness Month

People all across the world struggle with maintaining positive mental health. In the US alone, 1 in 5 adults and 1 in 4 teens deal with anxiety, depression and/or excessive stress.

In recent years, society has taken it upon itself to combat the mental health stigma, and so far it has been successful. Whether it is celebrities or public figures opening up about their own struggles or its recent portrayal in movies, tv shows, books, and music; society has finally begun to show that good mental health is something that everyone deals with on different levels and that it is important to reach out and get help no matter the severity.

There are several ways to improve your long term mental health, as well as your day to day mood. Often it is the small things you don’t think about that can leave you with feelings of being overwhelmed or down. Some ways to combat those day to day feeling are maintaining a healthy sleep schedule, eating a healthy balanced diet, monitoring your daily media intake, and keeping busy whether with physical activity or personal hobbies.

Sleep habits can have drastic impacts on your mood. Getting a good night’s sleep, between 7 and 8 hours, can set the tone for your whole day. Often times a lack of sleep can contribute to feelings of anxiety or stress by making it difficult to focus. It is very common for a person’s mood to be affected by their diet.

Eating the correct amount of fruits and vegetables, 1.5 to 2 cups of fruit and 2.5 to 3 cups of vegetables per day, can leave you feeling refreshed, happy, and not result in a bloated, lethargic feeling. Along with fruit and veggies, making sure that the correct amount protein is represented in your diet is equally, if not more, important. Proteins are the building blocks for your body. The neurotransmitters in your brain are primarily made of amino acids (the monomer, or building blocks, of proteins). When your diet does not provide enough protein to support the neurotransmitters it changes the way they process and can cause them to deliver lower levels of dopamine and serotonin (mood affecting chemicals).

Keeping busy and staying active are essential to improving your mood and mental health. Physical exercise promotes the release of endorphins in the brain as well as other positive chemicals. These mood boosting chemicals can drastically improve your mood and over time can even lessen the symptoms of mental illnesses such as chronic depression and severe anxiety.

Finally, learning to monitor and filter your daily media intake is an important skill to develop when working to improve your mental health. Constant negativity, bad influences, and a never ending surplus of other people to compare yourself to can negatively affect your short term mood, later leading to larger impacts on your long term mental health. Only allowing for a focus on positive and appropriate forms of media will greatly impact your mood and your view of the world.

No matter what you are struggling with it is important to realize that you are not alone. Countless people across the world struggle from different forms of mental illness every day.

**Remember is it important to talk to talk with your provider before starting a new diet and/or exercise routine. 

Courtesy of Lily Hancock

Celebrating 15 Years of Serving

CELEBRATING 15 YEARS OF SERVING OUR COMMUNITY!
As February comes to an end, we want to stop and recognize when it all began. In February 2004, we opened our doors and provided primary care one evening a week. Because of your partnership, we have grown over the past 15 years to offer primary, specialty and ancillary care services five days a week. We want to say thank you for supporting us, thank you for volunteering and thank you for believing in our mission. We are grateful we get to do this every day and appreciate we get to partner with each of you! We will be celebrating this milestone all year long!

How Can the Clinic Help You?

Hello my name is Pallavi and I am a volunteer at the Matthews Free Medical Clinic! In the summer I volunteered at the clinic and got the opportunity to work with the amazingly personal and warm staff. I mainly ensured patients were up to date with medical scans, tests, and paperwork. While my experience was not on the medical side of things, I knew everything I was doing was to help the health of the clinic’s wonderful patients. I could go on about the wonderful volunteer experience I had last summer, but this month I would like to share some important information with you. Specifically, how the clinic can help patients with diabetes!

A little about the clinic and Diabetes The clinic provides a wide variety of care and services to its patients, including diabetes care. In today’s time and age, Type 2 Diabetes has become increasingly widespread with over 3 million cases diagnosed every year, and 1 in 3 adults with prediabetes. Luckily, type 2 diabetes can be diagnosed and treated here at the clinic!

So what exactly is type 2 Diabetes?Type 2 diabetes is a problem in your body that causes blood sugar levels to rise. Your body also has difficulty using insulin, a special chemical that breaks down food. Overtime this can be harmful to the body.

So how can you tell if you are at risk and need a diabetes screening?

-Anyone age 45 and above

-Anyone with high blood pressure

-Anyone who is obese or overweight

-Anyone with heart disease

-Family history of type 2 diabetes

-High cholesterol

-Sedentary lifestyle (not much exercise)

If I am at risk, how can the clinic help me? The clinic has many ways to help patients with type 2 diabetes. The clinic has providers who can diagnose your type 2 diabetes through blood tests all free of cost. The clinic also has a pharmacist who can help patients find the most cost-effective way to treat diabetes with medicine. Also, many medical staff at the clinic can help with nutrition counseling to treat diabetes along with medication. There are many staff members and volunteers here to help you!

Please and thank you! So please, if you meet any of the risk factors and have not been checked out at the clinic for diabetes, come in! Thanks for reading, and please revisit the site for another blog post next month!

by Pallavi Patil

 

 

 

Thank You, Matthews Free Medical Clinic

My name is Amelia, and for the past year I have had the honor of being the Front Desk and Volunteer Coordinator at Matthews Free Medical Clinic. Sadly, today is my last day working at the clinic as my husband and I will be moving back to Washington State this month.

I have been so blessed by my time here and my encounters with all of the wonderful people I have met. I can’t adequately express how much my time at the clinic has meant to me. I will miss all of the staff, volunteers, and patients. It is all of you that make the clinic such an incredible place.

Thank you to all of the staff and volunteers for welcoming me into the clinic family. I have felt so loved and supported by all of you, and it has been a joy to work with you. Thank you so much for all you do for the clinic and the community! Thank you for letting me be a part of it. Thank you to all of the patients for your kindness, joy, and gratitude.

Matthews Free Medical Clinic has been such a blessing to me, and I know it continues to be a huge blessing to this community. I can’t wait to come back and volunteer when I am back in town. I am so thankful for all the clinic does to provide quality health care to uninsured patients in the area.

 

 

 

 

Thank you, Volunteers!

We’d like to thank this local neighborhood group of kids who came by to volunteer at the clinic today! This is their third year volunteering. They did a supply drive for the clinic, made cards for our patients and their families, and cleaned up the clinic and park. We couldn’t be more grateful for these volunteers and others like them! It’s because of you that we can continue to provide free, quality healthcare to low income, uninsured patients in Mecklenburg and Union Counties.

 

One Week Left to Enter to Win this Painting and Support Matthews Free Medical Clinic

“Reflections of Brantome” is a 30 x 40 framed oil painting by local artist, Prudy Weaver that is being raffled off to support Matthews Free Medical Clinic.

Tickets are $20 per ticket, and there is no limit to the number of tickets that can be purchased. This painting is worth $4,000! Tickets can be purchased now until the raffle drawing on Saturday, November 4^th at the Silver Brush Art Show and Sale.

Raffle tickets can be purchased in person at Matthews Free Medical Clinic, at the Silver Brush Art Show and Sale, or online.

To purchase tickets online go to www.matthewsfmc.org/contributions, scroll to the bottom of the page, click on donate, then select how you would like to make your payment (credit card or paypal). You may purchase more than one ticket. In the area “add special instructions” type “raffle ticket” and the number of tickets you are purchasing. All your information will be entered by the Matthews Free Medical Clinic into the raffle drawing, and we will send you your raffle ticket(s).

You do not need to be present at the drawing to win.

A special thank you to the local artist, Prudy Weaver and to Dick and Eleanor Morris for donating the painting to support Matthews Free Medical Clinic!