News

Veggie Van Go transporting healthier options

| In The News, News

By Chris Mays cmays@reformer.com
Photo by Kristopher Radder

TOWNSHEND — Morty Fink, of Jamaica, goes to Veggie Van Go every month.

“You never know what’s going to come out of that truck,” he said, standing in line waiting for fresh produce provided at Grace Cottage Hospital via the Vermont Food Bank.

Fink can usually pick up onions, tomatoes and potatoes there.

“Every once in a while, we get yogurt,” he said. “But not all the time.”

He called the offerings “good and wholesome stuff.”

“The stuff you get in the grocery store is questionable,” he said.

Jacki Brown, marketing administrator at Grace Cottage Hospital, said her group started a relationship with the food bank in October 2015. 

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How’s Your Healthcare Vocabulary?

| Graceful Health

By Claire Bemis, RN, Grace Cottage Care Coordinator

Have you ever heard your healthcare provider use a word you don’t understand? Most of us have. Like other specialized fields, medical professionals use a lot of jargon to communicate with each other. They all understand these words, and sometimes they forget these terms are not familiar to the general public.

How is your healthcare vocabulary? I get lots of questions about the following terms. See if you can define them yourself, and if not, look to the end of this column for the answers.

Advance Care Directive versus Living Will
Care Coordination
Contusion versus Abrasion
Critical Access Hospital
Hypertension
Mid-level provider
Patient-Centered Medical Home
Primary care
Swing Bed
Thrombosis
Ultrasound versus MRI versus CT Scan

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Creativity Offers Profound Benefits as We Age

| Graceful Health

By Caroline Chase, Grace Cottage Behavioral Health Specialist

Throughout my life, I remember hearing members of the “older generation” saying “aging is not for sissies.” As a child, this never “struck a chord,” probably because I had a hard time coming to the realization that someday I, too, would reach, what seemed at the time, the dreaded “older generation.” Yet, here I am now, heading into the final chapters of my life, much more aware of the rewards and liabilities of aging.

I am now able to observe, both in myself and in the elderly population with whom I work as a psychotherapist, the attributes and qualities that contribute to healthy aging. While aging can bring with it the emotional freedom of being able to sort out one’s priorities, and hopefully, learning not to “sweat the small stuff,” aging can also bring with it complex and painful emotions that are often not recognized by society.

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Healthcare Matters: Ep 3 – Women’s Health Screenings

| News, Videos

Marty Cohn hosts episode three of Grace Cottage Hospital’s Healthcare Matters, discussing women’s health screening for breast and cervical cancer, as well as osteoporosis, with guests Dr. Ewa Arnold, a primary care provider at Grace Cottage Family Health and Emma Higley, Diagnostic Imaging Manager at Grace Cottage Hospital.

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A Successful School Day Begins the Night Before

| Graceful Health

By Holly Meyer, Grace Cottage Family Health RN

The lazy days of summer are behind us, and it’s back-to-school time.

After a long summer break, setting our kids up for a successful school day can be quite a production. Just like any production, it is important to set the stage in order to achieve a great performance. I think we can all agree that a great school day starts with a great night before. Here are a few tips to help your child to be a class act at school.

Encourage physical activity. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), children who exercise regularly have better attention spans and less behavioral problems. Go outside with your kids in the afternoon before dinner. Go for a hike, take a bike ride, or play tag. Just 30 minutes a day of physical activity on school days, or 150 minutes per week, is all it takes!

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Fall Wellness Classes at Grace Cottage

| News

Making time to exercise and participate in healthy activities is vitally important to your health! Benefits may include improved muscle tone, better balance, increased confidence, reduced stress, better sleep, more […]

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Thoughts for a Successful School Year

| Graceful Health

By Eileen Arama, Grace Cottage Family Health MSW, LICSW

In just a matter of days, school will be added to families’ daily plans: getting up and ready for it, doing homework after it, hopefully enjoying friendships and feeling proud of accomplishments.

Three concepts can guide families through a successful school year: Structure, Communication, and Positive Stress.

It’s been said many times: routine and structure help both children and adults to function at their best. And it’s true; people do manage well when they set regular times for waking up and sleeping, meals and brushing teeth, homework and play. Initiating and maintaining these healthy routines and habits can provide predictability and stability for all ages.

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Tomatoes Wanted!

| News

Attention gardeners: how are your tomatoes doing? If you have more tomatoes than you need this year, please consider donating some to the “Ton of Tomatoes” project, which is bringing […]

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