Holidays can be a time to look forward to for a lot of people, but they can also be stressful for those with complex health issues, including autoimmune diseases Such as diabeticAnd the polycystic ovary syndrome, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and lupus.
Changes in regular schedules and routines, travel, and attending holiday events and parties can make people with autoimmune diseases worry about forgetting to take medications, eating things that disrupt the disease’s regulation, and experiencing stress that worsens their symptoms.
At the same time, health coaches may not see their clients on a regular schedule during the holidays. Without their coach, an important component of their support system for healthy behavior change, they might be more prone to relapse.
What are the ways health coaches can support their clients with autoimmune diseases during the holidays? This article offers some concrete ideas for continuing customer support when sessions are not regular and your customers may benefit from some additional support.
Have an open conversation with them about potential holiday stresses
With the holidays approaching, talk to your client about what their holidays are like for them. If they feel comfortable, engage them in a conversation about the challenges they expect in terms of managing their symptoms.
If they haven’t thought about it but have shown an interest in exploring how the holidays can change their current symptom management habits, you can bring up some topics. Keep in mind the following:
- Remember to take your medicine
- Remember to monitor blood glucose (if the client has diabetes)
- Having difficulty continuing to follow a diet, such as anti-inflammatory diet, Helps manage symptoms
- Inability to exercise regularly
- Increased stress levels
Provide them with the tools to manage changes during the holidays
Once you talk about the potential ways the holidays can change how your client deals with symptoms of autoimmune disease, you can suggest tools to help support them. These can include books, blogs, brochures, inspiring documentaries and films, newspapers, and finding an accountability partner.
There is no limit to the type of tools you can provide. The key is that the tools should be a source of support for your client, really within their interests or skill set, and easily accessible. For example, if your customer loves to read Blogs and ArticlesIn between sessions, you can send them some links to articles about specific techniques for managing the disease.
Instead of overwhelming them with a long list of tools, aim to suggest one or two tools they are most likely to use.
Suggest alternative ways to check in during holidays
Whether it’s due to time constraints, travel, or other reasons, your weekly sessions with your client may be out of the question during the holidays.
However, if it is within the bandwidth and design of the training program, you can suggest other ways to check in briefly during the holidays. That could mean a text exchange once a week, an email with a tool or resource link, or even a phone call to check in.
If your client feels that their well-being is really important to you through short but genuine communications, they are more likely to remember their sessions with you and their commitment to healthy behavior change.
De-stress during the holidays, and instead focus on stability
It can be tempting to suggest progress toward healthy behavior change goals during the holidays. It’s important to remember, however, that for many people, the holidays are characterized by an irregular routine. Establishing new habits can be more difficult when your customers are eating out, traveling, on vacation, or, depending on their job, working more hours than usual.
Instead, talk to your client about doing their best to maintain the progress made so far during the holidays, especially with the habits that enjoy the most. effect on their symptoms. Unlike clients who do not have complex health conditions, a significant relapse in health behaviors may also mean a significant decline in the management of autoimmune diseases. Therefore, taking the pressure off to make progress and instead focus on keeping the progress so far until the holidays are over can help relieve stress.
Schedule a post-holiday session
If your client reports that it will likely be difficult to stick to your regular meeting schedule during the holidays, set a post-holiday session. While it is up to you and your training process, leaving it up to a client to communicate with you when the holidays are over can be risky. There is a possibility that they will lose momentum and not contact you at all, especially if they sense you He might be disappointed It includes changes that occurred during the holidays.
If you set a date and time beyond the holiday season, your customer won’t have to think about hitting the schedule. Instead, make a clear plan for the weeks you won’t meet and pick up where you left off.
Review their emergency plan
The coach is just one piece of your Client healthcare support team. If your client has an emergency, such as a hypoglycemic event (if he has diabetes) or debilitating pain (if he has arthritis), go to the emergency plan, including what to do (such as taking a special medication), Who to contact and how to contact them.
Home Takeaway
For people with autoimmune conditions, the holiday season can be quite challenging. For your clients with Alzheimer’s disease, regression in terms of progress in changing healthy behavior may mean a resurgence of symptoms. This is not only annoying to customers, but it can also be dangerous to their immediate health and well-being.
Working with your clients and finding ways to support them during the holidays can help prevent relapses and give them confidence to make good decisions about their health.
references
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S156899720900192X
- https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ad/2015/401620/
- https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/what-are-common-symptoms-of-autoimmune-disease
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