Your blood pressure is under control. Your doctor says that your heart looks great. You’re able to maintain a healthy weight. Your blood sugar levels are right where they are supposed to be. And there’s every reason to believe you’ll have a longer life as a result.
Who wouldn’t want those kinds of results on their physical health assessment?
What if it wasn’t because you’re at the gym all the time or living a highly diet-restricted lifestyle?
When your emotional health is good, it impacts your physical health. It influences the weight you maintain, your blood pressure levels, and even your cardiac health. And it also helps regulate your blood glucose levels.
But the opposite is also true: when your emotional health is struggling, it can negatively affect many areas of your physical health. For example, depression lowers the body’s immune system effectiveness. Grief can bring on many cardiovascular issues, leading doctors to call it broken heart syndrome. Unchecked stress can lead to a myriad of health-related consequences.
That’s why, as you’re reviewing your healthcare choices this open enrollment season, it’s so important to look at what healthcare choices also include resources for your emotional well-being. Open enrollment is the season of the year when many employers allow their employees to make updates and changes to their healthcare options. But with fewer employers now providing affordable healthcare options, and with the number of Americans now engaged in the gig economy, traditional health insurance is no longer the only option on the table.
Altrua HealthShare is a health care sharing ministry, also known as an HCSM, a non-profit organization made up of like-minded, health-conscious individuals who all share in each other’s eligible medical needs. Altrua HealthShare is also unique in that on many of its available memberships, it includes an emotional wellness feature.
“At Altrua HealthShare, we believe in helping our members maintain their health. That includes their emotional health,” says John Capezzuti, COO of Altrua HealthShare. “That’s why we’ve built into our memberships access to LifeWorks, a counseling and coaching service.”
Altrua HealthShare members on certain memberships can access LifeWorks for a variety of emotional health needs. Members can have five in-person counseling sessions per issue. What this means is that if someone is struggling with, say, a marriage challenge, they can go to five in-person sessions to address that issue. Additionally, they have unlimited access to telecounseling services through LifeWorks. LifeWorks also provides coaching for financial and legal health along with a variety of other life situations. On certain memberships, LifeWorks is available to the member and any family member of their household, whether those family members are on the membership or not. As a member of Altrua HealthShare, you can review your Membership Guidelines to see if LifeWorks is part of your current membership and how to access LifeWorks.
As you consider your options for your healthcare for the upcoming year, don’t forget about your emotional well-being. Because your emotional health plays such a significant role in your physical health, you’ll want to be sure use the support and services that help give you guidance in your mental wellness. In addition to the monthly savings you experience with Altrua HealthShare, having access to LifeWorks can give you a better health outlook for the coming year.
And while open enrollment only lasts for a few weeks, you can enroll with Altrua HealthShare at any time.
Make 2023 your healthiest ever by doing your homework this enrollment season. Make sure the options you’re considering take care of all of you, including your emotional wellness. As an Altrua HealthShare member, your emotional well-being matters. Make your physical health the best it can be by taking care of your emotional life. Altrua HealthShare is honored to be able to offer resources that can help you do just that.