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Wellness
Memory in Motion uses dance as communication when words fail
The goal for Memory in Motion, a program at the Penn Memory Center, is to get participants—both those with cognitive deficits of many levels and their caregivers—to listen and move to music.
Early and ongoing weight stigma linked to internal weight shaming
Self stigma surrounding weight is associated with poor mental and physical health, and a new study identifies key characteristics of people who are most prone to this internalization.
How doctors can help cancer patients quit tobacco
A simple set of decision-support tools combined with institutional buy-in can help increase the number of cancer patients who engage in treatment to help them quit tobacco.
Managing asthma amid the summer heat and dips in air quality
For people with asthma, effective treatment plans can help patients better manage their condition and prevent complications. However, a variety of factors, like increased exposure to poor air quality, can make life more challenging.
Prescribing nature for well-being
Awarded one of three Big Idea honors from the campus wellness challenge, Nature Rx emphasizes time in nature as a means to ease stress.
What influences how parents and their gay adolescent sons talk about sexual health at home?
Research from Penn found that even when parent-child conversations avoid heteronormative stereotypes, outside factors like mass media and religion—those beyond the parents’ control—can reinforce them.
Quantifying the health risks of being a family caregiver
Health care and economics researchers find that more research is needed in the area of ‘next friend risk,’ or the full dimension of health risks faced by family and friends who become caregivers to the homebound.
For Transplant House families, dinner just got a whole lot better
At the Clyde Barker Penn Transplant House, a partnership with Walnut Hill College and a Penn Medicine CAREs grant brings homemade baked goods to pre- and post-transplant patients and families.
New intervention increases healthy behavior among South African adolescents
A new study from the Annenberg School for Communication led by John B. Jemmott found that a specially designed health intervention given to South African youth improved healthy eating and amount of exercise, with effects lasting at least 4.5 years.
For Kennett Square’s mushroom farmworkers, healthy interventions come directly to the workplace
With the President’s Engagement Prize, seniors José Maciel and Antonio Renteria plan to bring subjects like nutrition and sleep to the workers, reinforcing preventive screenings already provided by a local, federally qualified health center.
In the News
My brother’s recovery from a car crash became a lesson in how to talk to doctors and nurses
Emily Largent of the Perelman School of Medicine writes that communication is part of healing, as she experienced when her brother was in a car accident and unable to notify family himself.
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Millennial HR professionals are entering the C-suite, and their priorities reflect their lived experiences: ‘We spend a lot of time getting to know folks deeply’
Matthew Bidwell of the Wharton School points to an uptick in student interest in employee wellness strategies.
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Stressed? Depressed? Mindfulness training could offer long-term relief
Yvette Sheline of the Perelman School of Medicine is quoted on how many cultures have used different variations of mindfulness, and that classes are generally affordable and accessible in most cities.
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The less college students sleep, the worse their grades, study finds
Two hundred Penn students and staff participating in a seven-week online course to build better sleep habits have reported an overall decrease in symptoms of insomnia, according to Rebecca Huxta of Wellness at Penn.
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New on the job: Penn director of well-being initiatives creates tools for success
As Wellness at Penn’s inaugural director of well-being initiatives, doctoral candidate Jackie Recktenwald of the Graduate School of Education is looking to improve student health and wellness across campus.
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The foods that keep you hydrated
Dan Negoianu of the Perelman School of Medicine says there’s really no data behind the eight-glasses-of-water-a-day advice.
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