AFP Health Reviews

If you were to come down with a sickness or have an accident without health insurance you may find yourself unable to receive treatment or even in debt to the hospital. Thankfully, many employers provide health insurance benefits to full-time and even some part-time employees. If you do not currently have health insurance coverage, this is the first place to check as it will generally be the most affordable. If you are married, you may both be able to receive coverage under your employers plans.

If your employer does not offer health insurance or you are self-employed you still need it. While it may not be cheap, the fact remains; what do you have if you dont have your health? Even a basic hospital bill without insurance can run into lakhs of rupees. It isnt worth risking financial ruin to save a few bucks on a health insurance premium.

Why Do I Need Health Insurance?

It is important to get health insurance for yourself and members of your immediate family. Insurance helps to protect you from high health care costs, especially those related to chronic medical conditions or the need for hospitalization. You should get it for the same reason that you have auto insurance or homeowners insurance – to protect your savings and income.

How Do I Get Health Insurance?

Depending on your age, job status, and financial condition, there are many ways that you can get health insurance, including:

Health insurance provided by an employer
Most companies provide health insurance as an employee benefit. You may be required to pay some portion of the monthly premium.

Health insurance that you purchase on your own
If you are self-employed or work for a small company that does not provide health insurance, you will need to buy it on your own.
If you have inadequate or no health insurance, you will be responsible for paying all your health care bills. Your community may have a free clinic or community health center that will provide healthcare services free of charge or at a reduced fee.

How Do I Choose a Health Plan?

There are many factors to consider when choosing health insurance. These factors may be different if you are choosing one of several employer health plan options or buying your own.

Compare quotes online. Find out what you require in terms of coverage and look for the best quotes available in the market. Research will help you get an affordable quote with optimal coverage.

Are you a snacker? A nibble here and a nibble there? Next thing you know you have blown your calorie count for the day and more?

Here is a tip to keep those snack attacks under control:

If you are the meal creator in your family, then this is a area that can be difficult if you are trying to lose weight and watching your diet. Even if you are creating a healthy dinner for you and your family, a nibble here and a nibble there can add up big time for calories.

If you are anything like me, I will chop away at something and then mindlessly pop whatever it is I am chopping into my mouth. By the time I have dinner cooking, I have probably eaten a meal with all my picking and nibbling and taste testing.

I didnt think I ate that much, but it is amazing how many calories you can ingest without really knowing it. If I was cutting up cheese, or slicing cheese, I would pop a slice in my mouth. This went on just from force of habit. Plus I would taste test everything I was cooking!

The rest of the day, I was pretty good with my diet and exercise, but come any meal preparation, especially making lunches at night, then it all went out the window.

So, I devised a simple trick that has helped, and once I got in the habit of doing this, it has worked well.

Brush your teeth, before you prepare dinner, or lunches or whatever meal you are working on, that can cool off your cravings. If that is not enough to put you off taste testing, then chew some sugarless gum. You are less likely to be doing any taste testing with gum in your mouth! That fresh minty taste will usually stop you nibbling on ingredients.

If you are truly hungry while making a meal, then pop a 100 calorie popcorn package in the microwave, and put it in a bowl just for you. Keep snacking on that while you are creating your meal. For me, the worst time was when I was preparing lunches at night for the next day. I would make a sandwich and want to nibble the ingredients! By either chewing gum, brushing my teeth, or snacking on my special snack, it stopped me from sabotaging my weight loss goals.

Fat burners are all the rage today, new companies spring up monthly clamoring to get their product noticed in this billion dollar industry. But the fact is that supplements have a very specific application and there are some vital factors that you must understand when it comes to cutting through the hype and recognizing the best fat burners.

Fat burners have become very popular in today’s society, especially in America. It seems that everyone is looking for a quick fix to their weight problems. However it needs to be said that Fat burners can be a successful complement or addition to your nutrition and training program with some rules for use which we will discuss in a bit.

Selecting the best fat burners to help help you to accomplish your physique goals can be a little daunting. However there are good products available to give you boost but please understand that nothing is a substitute for hard work and good nutrition.

Fat burner supplements are growing in popularity especially as people often find it difficult to stick to hardcore diets and exercise regimens as well as those who find they have reached a plateau in their weight loss and need a kick start.

There are two ways you can go with fat burners the natural rout and the prescription route. For the purposes of this article we will only cover natural fat burners.

2 Vital Factors You Must Know About Fat Burners

The truth is that fat burners can help but there are some factors you need to consider. First off you should understand that these products do have potential bad side effects. This means that they are not a “permanent solution” instead they should only be used in short periods to help with plateaus or for momentary fat loss for a special event.

And it should be noted that they can become addictive. Both because of the substances they use and the results they product. The substances often cut appetite and give super abundant energy boosts that are enjoyable, but the effects of this is a wearing down of the endocrine system which is trying to keep up with adrenaline production. This means that to get the best results from these products you need to keep it short and sweet and also make sure to be eating healthy and getting exercise so that the fat doesn’t jump back on when the supplements are stopped.

Best Fat Burners

Fat Burning Supplement #1 – Green Tea

Green tea has long been considered a potent aid to fat burning. Studies published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that people drinking five cups of green tea a day burned an average of five percent more fat than people who did not drink any green tea at all. This is a boost but it is only around 100 calories per day for most people.

Which means that almost the same results could be had with drinking a gallon of ice water per day, as that is the cost to heat up the water inside your gut. It is a quality ingredient to be sure, and standard fare in most ephedra free fat burner compilations these days, but simply put don’t expect miracles from it.

Fat Burning Supplement #2 – Ephedra

Simply put this is the mother of all fat burning supplements. Ephedra refers to the plant Ephedra sinica, known in Chinese as ma huang.

Ephedra was taken off the market by the FDA a while back when it proved to be a little too good at revving up the metabolism – so much so that some complained of heart issues, and a few people even died. When the controversy peaked in 2004, ephedrine was taken off the shelves for further testing.

The supplement is still available through the internet and is the most effective natural fat burner that we have seen. It was used in traditional Chinese medicine for 5,000 years for the treatment of asthma and hay fever, as well as for the common cold.

So now the search is on for a new and legal product that can deliver the same results as the coveted Ephedra based supplements did. Enter our last supplement Hoodia.

Fat Burning Supplement #3 – Hoodia

Hoodia is a succulent plant that closely resembles a cactus and grows exclusively in the South African deserts. Recently this purple-flowered plant has been getting a considerable amount of attention for its potential benefits as a fat burning supplement.

Hoodia works by fooling the brain into thinking you are full regardless of whether you have eaten or not. The active compound in Hoodia works much like glucose when you have eaten a meal but, the ingredient in Hoodia is 10,000 times stronger than glucose. It travels to the brain and tricking your nerve cells to signal that you are full.

Hoodia is showing great promise as an appetite suppressant however you want to make sure that you only use certified Hoodia products as other less than authentic Hoodia products are floating around to meet the surge in demand.

The Bottom Line On The Best Fat Burners

The bottom line is that even the best pills and potions can only be used safely for a short time frame. True long lasting weight loss only comes with lifestyle changes. So, go ahead and get a little help from a fat burner to get the ball rolling but make sure to back it up with a program of solid nutrition and simple exercise.

Looking for the fastest fat burner for men?

One of the best ways to lose weight is with the help of regular exercise. However, there are certain limitations that can make skip your regular workouts. Often it becomes difficult to frequent a gym 4-5 days a week. This happens largely due to tight work schedules etc.,

Not just this, it is also not possible to stick to a diet plan for weeks at stretch. Most people get back to their normal eating habits once the initial excitement wanes of. This results in making you gain even more weight.

This is why it becomes important to use a weight loss supplement. Fat burners are the most well known of all sort of slimming pills.

As the name suggests, fat burners make your body burn fat quick and fast so that you can get rid of accumulated fat and get a perfectly lean physique.

Most men tend to gain belly fat as they get older. This is bad for your cardiac health as well. Not just this, excess belly fat is also associated with problems like diabetes etc.,

Good quality fat burners for men are made with enzyme boosters that not only your metabolic rate but also helps suppress appetite so as to cut down on your caloric intake.

In addition to this, such fat burners also contain ingredients such as tongat ali extract. This is crucial since it helps boost the production of testosterone in your body. Testosterone is the hormone that has an amazing fat burning potential.

Such fat burners can easily make you lose anywhere between 3-5 pounds a week. However, it is extremely important to combine such a fat burner with a proper diet and regular exercise.

You should never believe all those advertisements that promote weight loss pills as miracle cures. Pills that make outrageous claims with regards to weight loss without any exercise are only trying to dupe you.

However, combining light exercise with such fat pills can do wonders for your weight loss plans.

Good quality fat burners are made in FDA approved labs and do not have any side effects. It is not surprising that such fat burners have a very high reorder rate.

Vitamin A plays a very important role in the promotion of healthy skin especially the sensitive skin of penis. Vitamin A enhances cell repair and rejuvenates wrinkled, dry, sore or chafed skin. Men of all ages can suffer from uncomfortable issues connected with penis health, particularly those issues which affect the feel, the look and even the smell of this intimate area. Having any common penis skin issues can result in a detrimental effect on a mans sexual confidence. However there is an easy solution for avoiding common penis skin problems in the form of penis health crmes that contain important nutrients such as vitamin A (health professionals recommend Man1 Man Oil). When penis health crmes are applied to penis skin on a regular basis they provide numerous penile health benefits and help prevent discomfort, embarrassment and even impotence. Feeling confident about the health, the look and the feel of your penis can greatly enhance sexual performance and just make you feel good about yourself.

What is Vitamin A?

Vitamin A is a fat soluble vitamin, stored in human fat cells and in the liver. Vitamin A is ingested either directly as retinol in certain animal fats, or indirectly as carotenes in vegetables-which the body then converts into Vitamin A. Your daily requirement of Vitamin A should be sufficiently met by a varied diet of animal based proteins together with orange and dark green vegetables. Good dietary sources of retinol are liver, egg yolk, fish liver oils in oily fish, like mackerel, cheese and milk. Good vegetable sources of carotene are dark leafy greens including broccoli, kale and lettuce, or orange vegetables like carrots, pumpkin, tomatoes and sweet potato. The orange pigment of carrots comes from beta-carotene.

Applying Vitamin A topically in a crme does not add to the bodys store of this vitamin, so has no adverse health drawbacks. It simply benefits the specific site of application.

How Vitamin A promotes Penis Health

Many of the properties of Vitamin A, discovered by researchers, have beneficial effects on the health and function of the penis, particularly when directly applied to penis skin.

Vitamin A when included in a topically applied crme rejuvenates penis cells that maintain the healthy look and feel of the penis lessening wrinkles, redness and rough patches. Topically applied penis health creams which contain vitamin A help soften the skin and enable it to retain moisture and prevent skin dryness and improve penis sensitivity.

Moistens Sensitive Membranes

The head of the penis, or glans penis is a sensitive membrane, as is the inside of the foreskin. Vitamin A topically applied as penis health creme gets right to the source and helps moisten sensitive membranes. This helps keep this area of penis working smoothly and efficiently thus promoting penis health, as sensitive membranes play an important role in preventing infection.

Eliminates unpleasant odors

Vitamin A has anti-bacterial properties and thus can eradicate bacteria on penis skin which may produce an unpleasant odor in this very sensitive area.

Keeping Your Penis Healthy

Use a penis health creme that contains vitamin A (health professionals recommend Man1 Man Oil) to prevent premature signs of penile aging including dry, wrinkled penis skin and avoid common penis health problems like red, irritated or chafed penis skin.. which can result in loss of penile sensitivity. Applying a penis crme directly to the skin ensures immediate absorption of penis select vitamins and minerals for maximum health benefits.

Lenette: How do you see this book impacting the planet, the countries that it’s going to be first available to?

David: I think it’s going to have a huge impact for Elements of Life, personally. Everybody is on the same page, in my opinion, especially in the western world, North America, Canada, the U.S. about where the future of nutrition is. What everyone is arriving at is that people want more of their nutrition from food, meaning their vitamins and minerals and protein, antioxidants, etc. They want it easier. They want it to be as easy as possible. Superfoods answer that question. It solves that completely. As soon as people get clicked on to it, they realize, “Whoa. This solves a bunch of problems,” then it’s like an avalanche. That’s what I’ve been working on with Random House, who’s going to be helping me distribute this book; developing a strategy where we can kind of go out there and inform people like, “Hey, this is solving a big problem for everybody.” If you don’t have to depend on vitamin and mineral supplements and be worried about getting enough in our food, you eat superfoods and that’s covered completely. You don’t have to worry about it anymore. And it really is. That’s really the truth.

Lenette: Back to the superfoods, how do you suggest people new to superfoods get started?

David: I think it’s best to use a form of food that we’ve all been aware of, which is the superfoods smoothie, or the super protein shake or the Slim-Fast ‘throw it in a blender’ kind of idea. That’s the easiest way I’ve found for most people to tap into this. We’ve all had some experience with that. All we did is we just took the junk protein, the whey protein, egg white protein, whatever that was, just get rid of that and throw superfoods in instead. We have a blender, we have some spring water, we have our favorite fruits, let’s say right now it’s berries, frozen blueberries or whatever kind of fruit you like. You throw in your superfoods in there. I’m a beekeeper so I have honey at my house, and we throw in honey. You blend that up and you go running out the door and it’s like it’s a whole new reality. Actually what that does to people, doing a superfoods smoothie every morning instead of their traditional protein shake, it changes their whole reality around. Suddenly all their neurotransmitters start firing properly. They’re actually getting real protein for the first time in their life. They’re getting tryptophan for the first time in their life. They’re actually getting a good quality and spectrum of real minerals that are 100% bioavailable. That’s never happened in our lives. We grew up on like Froot Loops so when we actually get real nutrition, especially when it’s liquified like that, it has the fastest effect on people’s health of anything I’ve ever seen. That’s why I’m such a fan of superfoods. That’s why I’m putting my whole thing behind that. I’ve seen that it works in sorting out people’s neurochemistry better than anything else.

Lenette: Some people say, “How do I know what’s going to work for me if I start taking a bunch of these things at once?” But you’re saying, “Just go for the gold. Just try it all out.” [David laughing] Put it in a smoothie and you’ll feel better.

David: I remember one time I was hanging around with Shazzy. She’s very popular in the U.K. as a superfoodist; she and I wrote “Naked Chocolate” together. I remember we were having this hilarious moment together where we made up this superfood smoothie, and this was like six years ago. That was a long time ago, before it was like…I was kind of in my own reality with it, but I didn’t realize that people weren’t using this stuff. I made up this superfood smoothie; it must have had 50 ingredients in it. [both laughing] I’m tapping my foot, I’m drinking this drink, and I said, “Could you imagine if we just fed this to somebody on the street? It would probably knock them right out.” And BOOM, there was Shazzy knocked right out on her back.

Lenette: No way.

David: She literally drank half a cup of it and had to lay down. It just laid her right down. The reason why, it was just too much. I just kind of threw her right into the middle of the Super Bowl and it was too much. You’ve got to start out simple. Take Spirulina. Try that.

Lenette: Was that like a detox reaction she was having? Or just overstimulation from all these minerals and things?

David: It was probably both because when you put that level of nutrition…it was like herbs…I remember putting Cat’s Claw powder in there and Camu Camu berry. I’m not kidding, there were probably 50 ingredients in there. When you get to that level of concentration, you have to work up to it, just like anything else. You don’t just suddenly switch from Cheetos and Burger King over to 50 different things in a superfood smoothie. Even as a raw foodist, you go slowly. Everything’s very slow. It’s better that way. You try an experiment. You try bee pollen. You try Goji berries. You just eat it or you throw one ingredient in your drink and gradually you complexify it as you build that muscle. Basically what we’re doing is we’re building up a different muscle, a new digestive muscle. Most of our lives we spend a huge amount of digestive energy digesting nothing. There’s nothing in there. Now we can flip the equation around where we spend hardly any amount of digestive energy and we get a huge amount of nutrients. We’ve got to adapt to that. It doesn’t just happen overnight. You readapt your body to new, higher quality, higher octave types of foods and your body will take its little time. Over a few months it will gradually come along for the ride and that’s more reasonable. This step-by-step approach is much healthier.

Lenette: Can any of the superfoods in the upcoming book cause a detox reaction when you first start using them? And how important are superfoods in a detox program?

David: That’s a very good question. Generally the way I answer that question is to say, “What is a detoxification?” A detoxification occurs when the energy content of what’s coming into the body is at a higher level than where the body’s natural homeostasis is, or residual homeostasis. When you start taking superfoods that are high energy into a body that was eating, say, Burger King, there’s an energetic and vibrational discrepancy. Eventually what happens is one of those higher frequencies is going to entrain the lower frequency vibrations. It’s going to bring the lower energy up and drive it out. And that is going to occur in a lot of people just from eating any of the superfoods because the power of these foods is so high. If you’re a little bit more sophisticated with your approach and you’ve done cleansing and juice fasting and done herbal cleansing and that kind of thing, then you start targeting specific superfoods, like Chlorella, that get heavy metals out. Then you can start looking at Camu Camu berry for its medicinal content and medicinal capability of breaking down neurological blockages. For example, cataracts in the eye, glaucoma, foggy thinking, that kind of stuff. Then you could start to dial in a little bit deeper. Bee pollen, for example is a tremendous…it drives out all the gunk in our nervous system due to the acetylcholine that’s present in bee pollen and in royal jelly. What does that do? We’ve all had genetically modified soy lecithin that somehow snuck itself into our body and that just gums up our brain. You need acetylcholine from bee pollen and royal jelly to help drive that out. It’s called chelation replacement. Kelp is another one. Kelp can detoxify the thyroid. That’s another great superfood, one of the superfoods of the sea.

Lenette: Where are you telling people is the best place to get these superfoods? There are low quality superfoods out there and there are the best ever superfoods out there. How did you address that in the book?

David: What I did was, I went through, and there was a whole section on each superfood about what to look for. It’s really good. It’s designed for anybody to suddenly have the skill to say, “Here’s what I’m looking for. I’ve got to make sure I have cacao nibs that don’t have little white splotches on them. If I buy cacao with the skin on, it shouldn’t have any black mold on the outside.” Just little things like that. With each superfood, you become an expert on what to buy and how to determine what’s high quality and what’s low quality.

Lenette: That’s great, I’m really glad you put that in there. I’m curious to read that myself.

A favorite tech accessory is getting an update, and shelves will be stocked with the new iPad 2 this Friday at 5 p.m. But if you haven’t been able to justify shelling out $500 or more on the tablet, you may want to peruse the health and fitness options for the device. From gorgeous instruction videos to calorie counters, there are several apps to motivate you to be your healthy best.

As of now, apps for other popular tablets like the Android-powered Motorola Xoom or Samsung Galaxy Tab are few and far between, but if you’re thinking about grabbing an iPad 2 this week, check out these healthy apps for the iPad after the break.

Diet: The Full Plate Diet app ($7) is both a book and video in one that shows you how to feel full with fiber. The app uses beautiful photos and videos and contains dietary information on different foods. If you want to track your food intake, 80 Bites ($1, also available for iPhone) keeps track of how many times and for how long you eat every day.

Exercise: Take advantage of the portability and size of your electronic gadgets iPad’s screen with apps that you can set up anywhere in your workout area. All-In Yoga HD ($3) guides you through over 200 poses, which you can rearrange to make your own program or follow a preset class based on your level. Cardio Escape (free) allows you to buy different videos (ranging from $1 to $2) of landscapes, trails, and other scenery so you don’t get bored during a treadmill run. If you’re a fitness retreat fan, Canyon Ranch’s Everyday Fitness app ($3) has tons of videos and articles on anything from pilates to posture.

Wellness: Don’t let the start of Daylight Savings Time this weekend get you down. Track your sleep with apps like WakeMate (free; also available on Android, BlackBerry, and iPhone), which uses a $60 wristband and WiFi to wake you up at the most opportune time during your sleep cycle. If you have trouble falling asleep, there are tons of ambient sound options to lull you to sleep, like the iSleep Sphere ($2, also available for iPhone electronic gadgets).

Exercise tools are, therefore, extremely useful for those who are either overweight, or those that have experienced physical conditions that prevent them from engaging in high-impact exercises. Those who have suffered with any sort of accident or illness will certainly find vibration plates to be extremely useful nicely. Not only are they going to be used to help those people who are struggling with physical problems keep in shape, however they can be used for therapeutic purposes or even for rehabilitation and wasted or injured muscles. There are many uses with the exercise equipment effectively, given that the settings are adjustable.

-Frequency Speeds and Settings. Make sure the machine you buy has variable frequency speeds. Did you already know that slower frequency vibrations are good for weightloss and circulation, whilst high frequency vibrations help to tone one’s body. If you purchase a machine with a variety of workouts you’ll get a comprehensive, across workout.

These clever machines are hailed as the subsequent generation of home fitness equipment, due to their in order to deliver impressive, tangible results in just a brief space of time. The user stands or sits the actual plate and vibrations make the cells inside the body for being stimulated, just as they may be during normal exercise. The real revelation is the plates can certainly increase levels of cell stimulation to levels you’ll only normally achieve through really intensive workouts. This signifies that a 60 minute intensive regime may be replaced by an easy 10 minute workout on the Vibration Plate as well as the results are the identical, if not better.

In fact, a 10 minute workout using the plate would need a 60 minute workout if stood on solid ground. Vibration plates not merely effective at shaping up the physique in reality, vibration training can even help to cut back cellulite, build bone density and even promote better circulation. If you might be apprehensive about buying a vibration plate, perhaps on account of your age or physical ability, it can be worth noting until this device is suitable for. You are capable of doing any variety of exercise on them, hence even simple stretches will deliver results.

Imagine doing yoga stretches or an aerobic routine whilst standing your vibrating platform and you’ll get the point. You therefore have to use your initiative somewhat or you will not really get anything out within your workout. The CF1250 is great to the beginner because it’s supplied using a DVD which provides you an introduction to solution and shows you quite a few exercises in order to as component to your routine. This was a tremendous help plus it meant I didn’t waste valuable time wanting to figure out easy methods to use the plate correctly.

Do you recall the old saying, “breakfast like a king, lunch like a lord and dine like a pauper”?

You’ve probably heard it before but never really given it much thought.

It may be old advice but it’s very good advice, particularly the bit about breakfast. When it comes to fitness nutrition, eating a good breakfast really is the key to an effective and healthy nutrition plan.

A lot of people go without breakfast entirely. Many do so because they are convinced that this helps to control their weight. It doesn’t. Others claim to be too busy to make time for breakfast. This is just lack of planning.

Think about it; by the time you waken up in the morning your body has not had any food for probably 7 or 8 hours. Your blood sugar is at its lowest level and without refuelling, your body’s engine is going to be very sluggish and you cannot function effectively.

So a good breakfast is essential to a healthy lifestyle. In fact, it should account for at least one-fifth of your daily food intake.

A granola bar and a cup of coffee just will not do.

Breakfast should be a sizeable meal and it is important to plan it well to make sure that you get the balance you need to maximise your fitness.

Oatmeal (or porridge) is an ideal part of the meal. It is a complex carbohydrate which means that it releases energy slowly and keeps your blood sugar level steady. And it’s versatile too.

Adding fresh or frozen fruit makes it more appealing and boosts your vitamin intake as well. Or try adding dried fruits or cinnamon, vanilla or honey to give even more variety.

Protein plays an important role, but it is important to choose wisely to avoid adding too much fat. Eggs cooked with little or no fat, lean grilled bacon, low fat yogurt and skimmed milk all provide high levels of protein and can be used in a wide variety of ways to make healthy breakfast dishes.

One way to keep the protein levels up and the fat down is to use egg whites instead of whole eggs – or you can mix one whole egg with two or three whites to make a lower fat omelette or scrambled eggs.

Take time to plan your breakfast in advance to make sure that you start your daily nutrition plan well.

You might prefer to get help from a nutritionist or use a scientifically developed program like plan:one, which uses dynamic nutrition technology, to help you improve your nutrition plan.

You will soon notice real benefits in your fitness.

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you know that the population of the United States is aging. Soon the “greatest generation” will be a reverent memory and the “baby boomers” will be in full retirement mode. This will place a significant increase in demand on our health care system. The resources of our hospitals and medical clinics will be even more stretched, forcing them to become less personalized and more institutional in dealing with you, the patient. This can be a negative factor for people wishing to have a health care career. They often seek alternate health care models which allow a more personal delivery–in the home.

A significant portion of our most promising heath care professionals are selecting careers in a home health agency. The increasing interest in this career path has much to do with the ability of the health care provider to establish a more personal and rewarding relationship with the patient.

“Working in a home health agency offers some very significant advantages over a hospital or clinic setting,” explained Maria Bushebi, Manager of Private Duty for Family Home Care and Hospice, located in Spokane, WA. “Seeing a patient in a home setting allows a nurse or home health aide the time to develop a relationship with the patient, observe the progress of care and make recommendations that may escape the attention of a hospital or clinic based professional. Plus, it’s much easier in our system to follow the progress of care and that’s a major part of our job satisfaction.”

With more than 250 employees, Family Home Care and Hospice is the largest privately owned home health agency in the Inland Northwest. Michael Nowling, company president, is very much aware of the challenges of running a health care business today.

One of the biggest difficulties of running a health care business is staffing,” explained Nowling. “We have great success in recruiting high quality candidates because they are the type of people who are interested in working in a system which emphasizes personal attention and interaction.”

Not only do home health workers experience greater job satisfaction, but they also have greater flexibility in their work schedules than do clinic or hospital based professionals. As a result, a home health agency is an ideal situation for workers with families. The scheduling options allow them to be available for family or other obligations.

“The environment at agencies like Family Home Care is perfect for employees with families,” noted Bushebi. “We have regular work hours and can even arrange our schedules so that things like parent-teacher conferences or dental appointments for the kids can be accomplished without much difficulty. The ability to be flexible is a great benefit.”

Bushebi observes that many home health agencies are increasingly being staffed by more mature workers. These are often people who have raised their families and are looking for a job that will give them a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction.

“These workers gravitate to the home health system,” continued Bushebi. “The home environment is familiar to them and they can gain a significant sense of accomplishment and gratitude as they work with patients and see them improve.”

Home health agencies are also attracting more health professionals from hospitals and clinics because advances in technologies have allowed many of the cutting-edge therapies and techniques to be practiced in the home.

“Health professionals don’t have to worry any longer that they’re leaving behind the technical knowledge they accumulated working with high-tech medical equipment or state of the art procedures,” Bushebi added. “Much of this experience and technology can now be used in a home environment, so they can have the best of both worlds. They can keep up on the latest developments in their field and have fulfilling patient interactions.”

Licenses and certifications are necessary for workers in home health. Training programs which result in licensing for Nursing Assistants are offered by most of the community colleges across the nation and are not expensive. In addition, home care agencies like Family Home Care will often pay for workers to receive this training.

Whether you’re just beginning your health care career or are looking to re-enter the workforce, a career in home health will give you the ideal combination of traditional patient care values and cutting-edge technological advances. “Based on my experience at Family Home Care and Hospice,” Bushebi concludes, “I would say that a home health career offers everything that a health care worker would want in a rewarding career.”