FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM APRIL 16, 2020 • HEALTH CARE NOW • THE QUEENS COURIER 31
health care now
How to stay healthy while quarantined at home
New text message symptom monitoring
system launches for coronavirus patients
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com
@QNS
NYC Health + Hospitals is launching
a new system to monitor COVID-19
patients who have been discharged from
the Emergency Department.
Starting April 13, NYC Health +
Hospitals is implementing an at-home
COVID-19 text message-based symptom
monitoring platform for patients who are
discharged from the ED with suspected
or confi rmed coronavirus infections who
do not require admission to the hospital.
Th ose patients can now self-enroll in
the Stay-At-Home Symptom Monitoring
Program to receive secure text messages
every 12 to 24 hours at home to assess
their symptoms as a part of this program.
The Stay-At-Home Symptom
Monitoring Program intends to help the
public health care system continue to free
up capacity within its facilities to care for
patients who are most severely aff ected by
COVID-19 while supervising and triaging
the health of at-risk patients remotely.
“NYC Health + Hospitals is leaning on
innovative and effi cient methods of monitoring
patient’s health care needs remotely
during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing
the best care to patients and minimizing
the spread of the coronavirus,”
said NYC Health + Hospitals President
and CEO Mitchell Katz, MD. “It is especially
important now to provide New
Yorkers the health care they need where
they’re safest.”
The text message-based platform
is available to patients in English and
Spanish, with plans to make it accessible
in the 14 most common languages represented
by the system’s
patient population.
Those
who are enrolled
in the system
will receive a follow
up phone
call by a care
team member
and, if necessary,
be referred into the
hospital for clinical
care if they report
escalating coronavirus
symptoms.
“Th e newly launched
text message-based
COVID-19 symptom
monitoring platform allows
the public health care system
to offl oad our EDs and allows
our heroic health
care workers to
treat the severely
ill,” said
NYC Health
Photo via Getty Images.
+ Hospitals Vice President and
Chief Quality Offi cer Eric Wei, MD,
MBA. “Th is technology extends the reach
of our frontline health care workers —
enabling us to monitor patients eff ectively
and effi ciently — while keeping patients
safely at home.”
For more information, visit
nychealthandhospitals.org.
BY BETH DEDMAN
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
With gyms closed and grocery lines a
mile long, it can be diffi cult to sustain
healthy living within the confi nes of
quarantine, but it is still possible
to promote health and well-being
from home. Th e U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services
advises that half of every meal
should be made up of vegetables in
a variety of colors. Th is increases the
chances of intaking all of the essential
vitamins and minerals to maintain
a healthy diet.
Vegetables and fruits can be stored in
the freezer for months at a time. While
shelf-stable options are good to have in
stock, the HHS recommends cutting
down on refi ned sugars by eating whole
grains and looking for ingredients such as
brown rice, quinoa and oatmeal. Low-fat
milks and lean proteins such as chicken,
fi sh and eggs are a good way to keep energy
levels up without packing on quarantine
weight. Seafood is particularly
full of protein,
minerals
and fatty
acids, which keep
your body from storing
weight.
Diets composed of refi ned foods and
sugars can increase the risk of depression
by 25 to 35 percent compared to diets that
are high in vegetables, fruits, unprocessed
grains and seafood, according to Harvard
Medical School.
About 95 percent of serotonin — a neurotransmitter
that regulates sleep, appetite,
moods and reduces pain — is produced
in the gastrointestinal
tract.
Exe r c i s i ng
for at least 30
minutes a day,
fi ve days a
week can
help prod
u c e serotonin, maintain
weight, reduce health risks and improve
mental function, according to the Centers
for Disease Control. Running and bicycling
outside are great ways to increase
cardio activity, as long as there is a sixfoot
buff er between people.
YouTube and other digital platforms
have hundreds of at-home workout guides
that can be done even in a tiny apartment
in New York City. Th e CDC recommends
limiting alcohol and drug
use as they can disrupt natural
n e u -
rotransmitter production,
which can lead to more symptoms of
anxiety and depression.
Reducing the intake of notifi cations,
social media posts and news stories about
the pandemic can help reduce stress and
anxiety, according to the CDC. Meditation
and phys- i -
cal relaxation
can also combat
those anxieties
and stabilize
the body’s
rhythm and fl ow.
Evidence from multiple
studies shows that
meditation may reduce
blood pressure, symptoms
of irritable bowel syndrome,
fl are-ups in people who have
had ulcerative colitis, symptoms of
anxiety and depression, and insomnia,
according to the National Center
for Complementary and
Integrative Health.
Taking time to unwind
and reaching out to
loved ones digitally can
also improve mood,
c o g -
nitive function
and mental
health. Physical self-isolation
is necessary for reducing the spread
of COVID-19, but emotional self-isolation
can lead to a negative mental state.
“Coping with stress will make you, the
people you care about, and your community
stronger,” according to the CDC
website.” Additional tips, resources and
helplines are available through the CDC
at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/
daily-life-coping/managing-stress-anxiety.
html.
Photo via Getty Images
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