The University of Minnesota's Center for Spirituality & Healing has teamed up with Twin Cities Public Television to create My Health Planner on The New Medicine web site - an online resource offered free of charge that helps users set up and follow
individualized health plans.
The New Medicine web site provides interactive tools for planning and tracking one's health, as well as information that helps visitors understand the scientific basis for medicine's shift towards treating the whole person - body, mind, and spirit.
"The research evidence is compelling. If we want to help people live healthy lives and reduce health care costs, focusing on lifestyle and behavior change is essential. Consumers need health information and tools to help them make informed choices," said center Director Mary Jo Kreitzer, R.N., Ph.D. "My Health Planner was created to help consumers look at their lives and take charge of their health."
The My Health Planner section on the web site is an empowering guide for life improvement that helps users evaluate areas of their lives that impact health - from diet to spirituality to relationships. It then helps users set goals and guides them through appropriate action steps towards achieving better health.
Goals and action steps are stored in a calendar so users can track them, receive check-in reminders, update their progress, and most importantly, learn to make time for health in their daily schedules. All of the features on this Web site are offered free-of-charge and can be accessed at TheNewMedicine.org.
The web site is a complement to The New Medicine documentary, a multi-faceted look at the humanistic frontier of integrative medicine. Debuting nationally on PBS March 29, 2006, at 7 p.m., the two-hour prime-time documentary will help viewers understand the history, science, and growing availability of integrative medical care - a national trend that is taking shape in hospitals and medical schools throughout the country, including those in Minnesota. Following the documentary, a discussion panel called The New Medicine in Minnesota will begin at 9 p.m., featuring Kreitzer and other Minnesota visionaries who are leaders in integrative health and healthcare.
A national outreach campaign by many of the nation's most prestigious health clinics and academic centers will promote both the documentary and web site to educate people about integrated approaches to health and wellness.
Recognized nationally as a resource and leader in complementary therapies and healing practices, the University of Minnesota's Center for Spirituality & Healing's mission is to transform health care through innovative educational offerings, rigorous scientific research, inspiring outreach programs, and models of integrative clinical services. The inspiration behind the center's work is the knowledge that health and well-being are enhanced when the best of complementary and conventional care are integrated. The center is part of the Academic Health Center, home to the University of Minnesota's six health professional schools and colleges as well as several health-related centers and institutes. The AHC prepares health professionals to improve the health of communities, discover and deliver new treatment options and cures, as well as strengthen the health of our economy.