Healthinfo Island March Topics!

For March we have a wide variety of topics.  Click here to visit Healthinfo Island, or click each poster for a link to its information.

 

Tips for Reaching Your Goal

Maybe you intend to lose thirty pounds. Or perhaps you want to finish writing the next Great American Novel, clean out the garage so you can get the car inside, or chart your family tree. Whatever your goal is, here are a few tips to help you reach it.

Think about your goal as an end product. Then think about the process of achieving that product. Now you can change your thinking from reaching the end result goal to working your way along the process.

Divide the procedural path toward your goal into several smaller subgoals or intermediate endpoints along the path. Create a map that follows your process path and gets you to the final goal. Write it or print it out and post it where you will see it often.

Make a To Do list of tasks along the path to each subgoal from the prior subgoal or from your starting point. Put those items into your daily calendar. Check them off as you do them each day. You are trying to establish these actions as habits.

Think of appropriate rewards. These can be tiny for accomplishing your daily To Do. Maybe sitting quietly and listening to one song by your favorite artist after you have filled one trash bag of discards from the garage. Rewards can also be more substantial for reaching an intermediate goal point. How about downloading a new novel for your e-reader once you have written and edited three more chapters? Rewards should not interfere with your progress. If your goal is weight loss, don’t reward yourself with a candy bar.

Find your motivators and use them. This can be inviting a friend to exercise with you every day on Zoom. It could be attaching your goal to a cause, such as choosing a charity to support as you use your treadmill. It could be posting your progress on Facebook or magneting a snapshot of yourself in a swimsuit to the refrigerator door.

Allow yourself some flexibility. Things happen, situations change, and you may need to adjust your subgoals or even your goal. Remember, some progress is better than none.

February 28 is Rare Disease Day

February is Heart Health Month, but there are other important dates in the month. Feb 28 (or Feb 29, if available) is Rare Disease Day.

Did you know that 1 in 20 people will live with a rare disease at some point in their life? Over 6,000 rare diseases have been identified. Unfortunately, there is no cure for the majority of rare diseases and the causes of many are unknown.

You can learn more about rare diseases in Second Life. At 10am SLT (Pacific time), Gentle Heron will present information about Rare Disease Day at the Research Pavilion on Virtual Ability’s Healthinfo Island. Join us here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/135/198/30.

At noon SLT, Community Virtual Library and Conrado F. Asenjo Library at the University of Puerto Rico will share awareness information about rare diseases here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cookie/184/226/21.

EURODIS (Rare Diseases Europe) is the organization that began Rare Disease Day awareness events in 2008. They are holding a fundraiser all day with DJs and music at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tainted%20Island/155/209/2004.

Things to Do - Healthinfo Island Exhibits and Displays for February 2021

Heart Healthy Month - Keep Your Heart Pink and Healthy!

February is Heart Health Month!

You can teleport to any of the eight displays and exhibits using the SLURLs in this notecard. Click on the poster with the same name as the title of the poster set, and you will get a notecard that contains all the text of the posters plus descriptions of the images.

If you click each poster, you will get a message with additional information and live links.

Central Pavilion of Healthinfo Island
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/128/126/24

Heart Health Awareness Month
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/196/156/23

Alcohol and Your Heart
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/187/181/24

Signs of Heart Disease That You May Not Recognize
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/172/154/22

Heart Healthy Diet
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/111/81/24

Surprising Heart Facts (a quiz!)
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/99/37/26

Things You Didn't Know About Cholesterol
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/51/27/28

How We Damage Our Hearts
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/25/24/30

Preventing Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/21/62/32

Things to Do - What can you do without a mask and still be safe?

 

How many ways can you think of to have fun without wearing a mask, but still being safe?

The University of Nebraska Medical Center has a list of 78. Try some out this weekend!

https://www.nebraskamed.com/COVID/78-things-you-can-do-without-a-mask-and-still-be-safe.

Things to Do - Donate Used Clothing During the Pandemic

A widely circulated idea is that “No One Wants Your Used Clothes Anymore.” But this isn’t actually true. The economic crisis accompanying the pandemic has many individuals and families seeking free or inexpensive clothing.

Check first with local thrift stores. COVID has changed store policies. They may no longer provide pick up services, but many have drop off locations. Find additional COVID response information for national thrift store organizations here:

• Career Gear (accepting men’s suits by mail)
• Goodwill
• I Support the Girls (accepting bras and menstrual products by mail)
• Salvation Army

Online thrift and consignment stores allow you to make a little cash for clothing you are willing to part with. One large popular site is ThredUP for women’s clothing, shoes and accessories, and children’s wear. You pack up your discards in their free shipping package and send it to ThredUP; they take it from there. You can earn cash or shopping credits on the site.

Poshmark bills itself as a “social marketplace for new and secondhand style.” They accept clothing for women, men and children, as well as home decor and (only new) beauty items. You set up a sales “closet” for your discards that buyers can shop online, and Poshmark takes a commission on your sales.

Online peer-to-peer marketing is another option. For example, eBay provides additional support for buyers and sellers during the pandemic.

You can’t use the excuse that no-one will accept gently used clothing now to avoid cleaning out your closet. As Planet Aid points out, you can help other people and aid the Earth by donating your used textiles and secondhand clothing responsibly.

Healthinfo Island Exhibits and Displays for January 2021

You can teleport to any of the eight displays and exhibits by left-clicking the links or the pictures.  If you don't already have a Second Life account, it's free and easy to join! Simply click here and follow the steps!

Central Pavilion of Healthinfo Island
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/128/126/24

Fiber and Your Microbiome
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/196/156/23

National Blood Donor Month
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/187/181/24

Wearing a Mask
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/172/154/22

Dry Skin - Causes and Cures
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/111/81/24

Thyroid Awareness Month
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/99/37/26

Annoyed by Hemorrhoids?
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/51/27/28

Coenzyme Q10
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/25/24/30

Grapefruit is Great!
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/21/62/32