Prioritising your health is key to wellbeing – Family Physician
The physical wellbeing of every individual is vital to carrying out human activities, as it strengthens the immune system.
It is the ability to maintain a healthy quality of life that allows humans to get the most out of their daily activities without undue fatigue or physical stress.
For this reason, prioritizing one’s health is a basic necessity in order to stabilize and make sure that every part of the body is fit.
Regular exercise, a balanced diet, proper sleep, and cutting down on smoking, alcohol, and drug use are vital to physical health and mental wellbeing.
Getting tested to determine one’s health status is another important way to learn about one’s health. This enables the individual to be cautious about certain things.
A blood pressure test, a liver function test, a cholesterol level test, a kidney function test, a heart function test, a thyroid test, and a lung function test are some of the basic screening tests that are required of every individual.
When it comes to the checkup, some people prefer to have it at the beginning of the year, others in the middle, and some at the end.
But which one is better for the individual’s wellbeing?
According to Dr. Ayongo Mate-Kole, who is a family physician at Korle Bu Polyclinic, it is best for every person to know their medical health and status at the beginning of the year to help them carry out their activities successfully.
The tests, according to Dr. Mate-Kole, are tailored according to the age and gender of the individual.
In order to have a healthy lifestyle, the family physician indicated that one must avoid certain things that reveal rules that can help one stay healthy.
“We have a certain rule. It’s 0, 5, 10, 30 and 150 rule. The 0 means no smoking. The 5 is to have at least five servings of fruits and vegetables daily. The 10 is for at least 10 minutes of relaxation daily. Now the 30 is, your Body Mass Index (BMI) should not be more than 30. Now the 150 is exercise. At least, if you’re not doing anything at all, 30 minutes for five days a week, you should do some 30 minutes of moderate exercise,” she explained on Prime Morning on Thursday.
Speaking about how to make someone quit smoking, Dr. Ayongo stated that it is dependent on the individual’s willingness to stop.
But when one makes the decision to stop, she said “We can take you through a certain cycle to decide on what to do next.”
Meanwhile, a national health insurance card is required at every health facility before one can be tested, as some people may not be able to afford the bills.
But before one can be covered by the NHIS, the person is expected to be a member of the scheme.
As to whether NHIS covers all routine checks, the Head of the NHIS at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Emmanual Khavi, indicated that “it depends on what you’re coming to do, and NHIS has a package that the diagnosis is covered. If your diagnosis that you come with is out of the package, then you’re to pay, but if it’s within the package, then you’re free.”
Aside from the NHIS, there are other insurance schemes that are privately owned by individual companies.
When asked if one can be on both the NHIS and the Private Health Insurance Scheme, Mr. Khavi replied, “The door is open.”
But as to whether both can be used at the same time, he indicated that it is impossible.
However, everyone is urged to get tested as 2023 has just begun and do other activities to keep the body active and healthy.
The wellbeing of every person has an impact on conditions such as anxiety, depression, stress tolerance, and cognitive agility. Without physical wellbeing, one cannot have mental wellbeing, and relationships, career, and finances can be negatively impacted.
Source: Ghana News
