Men's Health Week

It’s Men’s Health Week and this is the time where we need to remind the men in our lives to put their health first. 

Back in 2011, my husband was flying frequently for his job and would always take the window seat so he would not be bothered from others trying to move around him. Who knew this would be the beginning of Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT).  Later during the year he developed tenderness and redness of the skin in his lower leg. He thought maybe he had bruised it while playing tennis and ignored the symptoms. More time passed and he began to experience flu like symptoms. He went to the neighborhood clinic where they told him to drive straight to the hospital. He developed a clot in his leg from which multiple pulmonary embolisms (PE) detached and entered his lungs (which explains the flu like symptoms).  Thankfully my husband was given a clean bill of health after several days in the hospital.  Now when he boards flights for more than 2 hours he takes blood thinners to prevent any clotting. I hope this story is a reminder to get checked by a healthcare provider if you are experiencing any kind of unusual symptoms.  It could save your life.

Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) is a serious medical condition where a blood clot forms in the lower leg. DVT can happen to anyone at any age. According to the CDC (2012), clots can develop in the lower leg as well as the thigh, pelvis, and arms. DVT is preventable and treatable if the symptoms are caught early.  Some of the symptoms include:

• Swelling
•   Pain
•   Tenderness
•   Redness of the skin

Certain factors can increase the likelihood of someone having DVT and even more for those who have more than one risk factor (CDC, 2012). Some of the risk factors include:

• Injury to a vein
• Slow blood flow
•  Increased estrogen
• Certain chronic medical illnesses

To see a complete list, please visit http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/dvt/facts.html

 

It is estimated that 60,000 to 100,000 of Americans will die each year from DVT/PE (CDC, 2012). 

How do you prevent DVT/PE from occurring?

• Moving around as much as you can while on flights, car rides, or from sitting for long periods of time
• Maintaining a healthy weight
•  Avoiding a sedentary lifestyle
• Following doctors recommendations based on risk factors if any

Reference

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). Deep vein thrombosis/pulmonary embolism. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/dvt/facts.html

Written by: Lauren Fennell

Lauren Fennell is a graduate student in the Health Studies Department at Texas Woman's University. Her health interests include minority health, adolescent health, and maternal health.

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Time Management for Success

Does this sound familiar? You are sitting at the computer typing away at your paper that is due tomorrow. You think to yourself, “I need a break. I have worked on this for a while now and I deserve a short break.” You get on Facebook to check out the TWU Health Studies page and then you look through your feed. Next, you decide to visit Tublr, Vine, YouTube and then you realize that hours have passed during your “short break.” Sometimes it isn’t even the internet that sucks you into abyss of time wasting. It could be Netflix, Vudu, or the gaming console. We all have the same 24 hours a day, but sometimes we want a few more hours a day just to get everything done. On some occasions a whole extra day would be useful as well. Unfortunately, we cannot create time, we can only manage it. 

Time management skills are a difficult to master at first, but once you get into a routine you are an assignment completer machine! The key to time management is to maintain a healthy balance among work, school, family, personal time and don’t forget sleep. But everyone has different needs when it comes to time management. Some people need a schedule, others might need a list of things to accomplish and then there are those that need to have all distractions out of reach and out of sight.  Let’s explore some options that could help you become a time manager extraordinaire.

Doris

This is not the same Doris found in the movie Meet the Robinsons, a bowler hat robot that tries to take over the world. Oh no, this is a friendly and ease to use app that can be used on a computers and smartphones. It allows you to make lists of items to accomplish or a to-do list. Once you accomplish the task, simply select it and it checks the item and is removed from the list. There is access to a task history which allows you to see all of your proud accomplishments. Users can even make multiple to-do lists. If you are a person who cannot seem to get a handle on what needs to be accomplished and just need a list to remind you, then Doris is for you. More information about Doris can be found here. 

Rescue Time

Do you have problems browsing the internet rather than writing your discussion board post? Then Rescue Time is the tool for you. Rescue Time is an app that helps users understand their daily habits and what hinders their productivity. It is a program that runs in the background of computers or mobile devices and records what the user is doing. Rescue Time can provide detailed reports to show you how many minutes or hours you spent watching those cute cat videos. On a good note, Rescue Time does show you all of the important tasks you completed too. Say you get sucked into Vine videos and you need a reminder to get back to work, you can set up a reminder to work on your final paper after 10 minutes. For those of you who are hardcore about being locked down to finish the literature assignment, Rescue Time allows you to completely block the use of certain websites, so the temptation is out of reach completely. The website block can be password protected. This might be something evil that your roommate could hold over your head, so be careful as to who sets up the passwords. To get more information about Rescue Time, click here.

Wunderlist

Is a great tool and is more of a to-do list on steroids. Wunderlist  list not only allows users to make a to-do list, but it set reminders, due dates, allows the user to add notes, upload files, add subtasks, email the file or to-do list to others and even sets reminders for others. This is the ideal group project app and if you are enrolled in course within the Department of Health Studies, you know we like group projects. You can send reminders to the group letting them know that draft one is due next week and that you need to meet soon.  Wunderlist even allows you to have separate categories such as work, personal, family, school and the list of movies that you need to catchup on because you cannot fit them all into your schedule during the summer. You can find more information about Wunderlist here.

The great thing is that these apps and programs are free! Of course there are some upgrades that cost some money, but the free versions are effective. Each app is able to be used on several devices too. Now you have some tools to help you become a more effective time manager.

If you need more time management tips visit our other post: http://twuhealthstudies.blogspot.com/2011/11/time-management-tips.html

References

Rescue Time. (n.d.). Rescue time. Retrieved from https://www.rescuetime.com/

Seagull Systems Ltd. (2014). Doris. Retrieved from http://beta.dorisapp.com/

Wunderlist. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.wunderlist.com/en/

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Dean Ishee on Leadership

Dr. Jimmy Ishee

We were fortunate to have the grand opportunity to interview Dr. Jimmy Ishee, Dean of the College of Health Sciences before he leaves his position as our leader for another deanship at the University of Central Arkansas. Since he is in a position of leadership and health educators are often called upon to be leaders, we felt he was the ideal candidate to interview about leadership skills and leadership roles. This post is a tribute to his leadership of ten years in the College of Health Sciences of Texas Woman’s University.

We asked him questions about his journey to leadership, his views on leadership and advice for leadership. Dean Ishee told us that he began his journey with nineteen years of moving up the academic ladder at the University of Central Arkansas in the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education. He started as an assistant professor and shortly after receiving tenure he moved into the position as Associate Dean. He desired a deanship and landed the position at Georgia College and State University as the Dean of Health Sciences. In 2005, Dr. Ishee came to Texas Woman's University as Dean of College of Health Sciences.

When asked what are the characteristics of a leader Dean Ishee explained that each leader has different characteristics, but they have each have a quality that people want to follow. “You cannot be a leader without people following you. Sometimes that’s charisma, intelligence, good decision-making skills, and sometimes it is it all of those together.” He also explained that sometimes the leader has to have a certain skillset for the position of an institution to move forward and it depends on the circumstance of the institution as to what skills are needed at that point in time. Dean Ishee continued, “I think a leader needs to help people to move to the next place. How they move to that next place may be being told to move to there, being guided to move there, or being persuaded to move there. All of those would help them get to next place, but there are different skills to do that. Of course, the people have to be willing to listen to those particular skills in moving forward."

Our next question was “How do leaders motivate others?” Dean Ishee explained that there are several ways to motivate others. The one way that works the best is through self-motivation. He explained that it is difficult to motivate a whole group of people. Communicating a common goal can help also motivate individuals and groups and it also enhances those who are self-motivated.

Dean Ishee explained that leadership in higher education has changed over time. Leadership in higher education has become much more legalistic. The number of laws influences how operations take place in higher education such as confidentiality, immunizations, and conditions of admittance to graduate school are influenced by some legal perspective. He also explained that a new crop of students bring in new techniques and strategies. Students today are more technology based and that impacts how leadership communicates with the students, faculty, and department chairs. For effective communication and an effective learning environment, leaders in the university need to use the common technology that students have access.

When asked about how leaders handle hardship Dean Ishee stated, “Whether it is university issues, student issues, faculty issues, or budget cuts, if the leader does not handle them well then you can very quickly be viewed as an ineffective leader. Handling it well, means that everybody believes that is considered in the situation; understanding of the whole situation.” He continued to explain that it is important to not make biased decision and that all options were considered prior to making the decision. No matter what decision you make as a leader there are those that are going to feel that it is the incorrect decision. In some situations the decision is not fair, but the decision is appropriate for that situation.

When asked, “What is the different between networking as an individual versus networking as a leader?” Dean Ishee explained that both are very important not only career wise but influence wise. “A network is a group of people that you influence and those that influence you. Your network consists of people you value, respect and people you wish to influence or want to be influenced by. As a leader you are networking with a greater purpose in mind. Individual networks for to further individual purposes and what needs to be done to become a greater influence. Networking as an individual, you communicated your interests, accomplishments, and opinions. As a leader of the Health Sciences, I network with the purpose of displaying the accomplishments and successes of the faculty, students, and focus on the group as a whole. As a leader there must be a balance between individual networking versus networking as a leader.”

Dean Ishee continued with the subject of networking and leadership. He said that as a leader, it is important to work for both the present and future. If a leader just works for the present then there is no planning for the future; also if you are just planning for the future you are not taking care of the present in order to get to the future. There is a balance because what you are doing in the present is what will either get you to your goal or not. Strategic planning starts in the present and then progressively moves toward the future. He encouraged future leaders to make sure to think and plan for both the present and the future. You cannot do one without the other because the future eventually becomes the present.

Next we asked Dean Ishee how the College of Health Sciences collaborates with other disciplines. Dean Ishee stated since the second word in the college is sciences, there is a need to have biology, chemistry, and math to better understand the human body and how it works. The College of Health Sciences collaborates with the other departments and colleges heavily through curriculum development and team teaching courses. There is also collaboration with English department for students who do not have English as their primary language. Finally, the College of Health Sciences also collaborates with other degree programs such as education, physical education, and special education.

We then asked Dean Ishee what he looks for in students. He stated, “Self-motivation is the key with students. I never taught a self-motivated student that I could not keep from learning. External motivation is useful too, but external motivation usually goes away or is taken away and eventually the learning stops. Along with self-motivation is self-responsibility.”  He also looks for students who are self-responsible for their learning, situations for they are in, for the mistakes they have made, and take responsibility for their lives.  A self-motivated and self-responsible student does not necessarily make perfect grades, but s/he is a deep learner and approaches courses for self-betterment. He continued to explain that it is important to provide students options, which give them the responsibility to make decisions about their future.

Lastly, Dean Ishee gave advice to those who want to take on leadership roles. He recommended first asking yourself, “Why do you want to take on that leadership role?”  The answer will be an indication of your success as that leader and your satisfaction of being that leader. If you want to be the leader because you enjoy leadership roles there is a different approach to the role than if the reason is that you want to make a change and influence outcomes. The approach will still be different if you want to a leader because you want to help people. There have been leaders with all of those motivations and great leaders as well. He recommended heeding caution if a group asks you to be a leader because no one else wants to lead the group. You may want to reconsider the leadership role for that group because of the lack of self-motivated people involved.  Once becoming a leader, there will be different criticisms and it is important to take those criticisms as a learning opportunity.

We hope you as our readers will take his advice into consideration when seeking out leadership roles. We want to say, thank you to Dean Ishee for taking the time for this interview about leadership. We also are thankful for his years of service as the Dean of Health Sciences and his leadership at Texas Woman’s University. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.

Interview by Amanda Hinson-Enslin

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