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Charissa Moulton, MS, CCC-SLP, CLC

Speech Therapy is a brief title that encompasses a wide variety of services that are available to anyone across the life span. A Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) is able to assess and treat speech and language disorders, swallowing disorders, and cognitive-linguistic disorders. The month of May is Better Hearing and Speech Month (BHSM) which makes this month the perfect opportunity to put a spotlight on communication.

At its base, communication is just an exchange of information in any form. It requires two participants; one to send the information and the other to receive it. When that cycle is completed, it is called a communication loop.

Communication is something that comes instinctively to many of us as it begins at birth when we cry to let our parents know we are hungry. When our mother or father responds to our cry and gives us a bottle or nurses us at the breast, they are responding to our attempt to communicate and are closing that communication loop. When caregivers continue to respond to our cry with food, they are reinforcing that communication effort and we learn that if we are hungry, we can cry and someone will bring us food. As we get older, we learn how to point, gesture, make sounds, use words, and then ultimately string those words together into functional sentences. We instinctively use our body language (eye contact, facial expressions, etc.) to help us communicate and then we learn how to refine that communication tool. We then learn how to write and read and we add those to our communication toolbox. By the time we are adults, our communication toolboxes are overflowing with tools at our disposal.

According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), communication disorders are among the most common disabilities experienced by young children. A young child might experience difficulty with using or understanding language, producing speech sounds correctly, stuttering, using communication in social interactions, or difficulty with thinking and memory (also called cognitive communication). Good communication skills are essential for laying the foundation for future school success; especially when it comes to reading, spelling, and writing. If your child is experiencing one or more of this difficulties, it can make it more difficult to do well in school, make and maintain friendships, or build self-esteem. Speech therapy is here to help.

As an adult, there are a variety of medical conditions or injuries that can lead to a disruption in our ability to communicate effectively. This can include a brain injury or stroke, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, breathing problems, voice damage, or cancers of the head and neck, among many others. For someone who has never had difficulty communicating before, this disruption can be frustrating, disorienting, and scary. Speech therapy is here to help you learn to communicate effectively again and gain back your independence. This is usually done through a variety of methods, such as using communication boards of devices, teaching compensatory strategies, supporting the process of re-learning language, and providing education to patients and family.

Communication is life. It is necessary to meet our basic needs, form and continue relationships, earn a living, and experience the world around us. That is why speech therapy is available at Blue Mountain Hospital District through Rehabilitation Services as an outpatient, inpatient and transitional care program, and now is available through Home Health. If you or someone you know is experiencing difficulties in communication, swallowing, or cognitive-linguistic processing reach out to your primary care physician, or reach us in the Rehab Department at 541-575-4157. We are here to serve the health of you, our valued community.

By Kim Jacobs, Registered Dietitian & Certified Diabetes Educator

When it comes to food and nutrition, there’s so much to share.  Nutrition tends to be the front and center when it comes to health, wellness, and disease prevention. As a Registered Dietitian (RD) with many years of experience, I still find it exciting to be able to educate people on how the foods we eat affect our overall health.  While each of our bodies might need slightly different interventions, there are a few nutritional words of wisdom I commonly share with my clients.

#1: Balance is key.

Guess what?  I don’t just talk about healthy eating during a Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) session. Healthy eating and physical activity are only one piece of the puzzle.  Emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and social aspects of health are equally important and must be addressed in order to improve overall well-being.  Beyond your physical appearance, can you say you truly feel well?  Do you feel alert, energized, nourished, and happy?  Do you feel a sense of overall purpose?   Do you have strong, meaningful relationships? Do you get 7-8 hours of sleep a night? Are you participating in mentally stimulating activities? These are all elements of true health.

#2: Create a healthy mindset.

Eating healthy isn’t about the latest diet or trend, it is about a lifestyle.  It is a lifestyle that celebrates food and healthy eating as an enjoyable way of life.   Food is a source of pleasure and should never be associated with guilt or judgement.  Sure, it makes sense to limit added sugars or mostly avoid them, even.  But completely limiting indulgent foods, or even entire food groups tends to eventually backfire on most people.  Being thoughtful about your food choices does not mean you will eat perfectly.  There is no pass/fail, but rather opportunities for increasing your knowledge as you establish your own healthy lifestyle and discover the right kinds of foods to fuel your body. 

#3 Cook at home more.

We all know the benefits and recognize that eating at home is one of the best ways to promote a healthy lifestyle.  Most importantly it offers an excellent opportunity for family bonding. At our house we typically begin our dinner meal with the following questions: “What was your favorite part of the day?”, and “What was the most challenging part of your day?”.   This usually leads us into good conversation and opportunity for growth and improvement.  Now, let’s be real here, during different seasons such as softball season (yes, this is its own season☺) there are nights that eating out or on the run is the only way to get nutrition into our bodies.  But, for the most part, we are at home appreciating a home cooked meal. 

#4 Increase your fiber intake!

You don’t leave my office without me talking about fiber and bowel movements. Sorry, but it’s that important!  Fiber is an essential nutrient and most Americans fall short of the recommended daily amount.  The recommendation is 14 grams of fiber for every 1,000 calories consumed. Most Americans are eating only 11 grams per day.  Yikes!  Dietary fiber contributes to health and wellness in a number of ways.  It helps promote a healthy weight; helps lower cholesterol; helps prevent constipation and diverticulosis; and, also helps maintain healthy blood sugars.  High fiber foods include fruits, vegetables, beans and legumes, grains, and nuts.  Increase your fiber intake gradually and make sure you are drinking plenty of fluids.  If you consume more than your usual intake without adequate fluids, you may experience unpleasant side effects.

#5 Limit added sugars.

This is also at the top of my list when it comes to improving your diet and something I address with just about every patient that I see.  Whether you are trying to decrease blood sugars; reduce inflammation; improve insulin resistance; decrease triglycerides; or decrease your weight, your sugar intake has to be discussed. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends limiting the amount of added sugars you consume to no more than 100 calories per day, or about 6 teaspoons of sugar, for women. For men, it’s 150 calories per day, or about 9 teaspoons.  The term added sugars does not include sugars that are found naturally in foods.  It refers to sugars or other sweeteners that are added to foods and drinks when they are processed or prepared.  For example, in addition to sweetened beverages and desserts, sugar may be added to foods such as breads, cereal, energy bars, ketchup, salad dressings and pasta sauces.  So, my recommendation is this…start reading labels if you’re not already doing so, and look at the ingredient list for sugar or sugar terms, such as corn syrup.  Also make sure you are choosing unsweetened beverages. This will make a big different in your overall health.

#6 Don’t try to out-exercise a poor nutrition plan.

Physical activity has many benefits, and is recommended for all ages, but the fact is, if you are trying to lose weight your workout routine may not be helping you shed the pounds.  We tend to overestimate how many calories we burn during activity, particularly when we are doing something such as running or HIIT workouts.  Our high-tech watches and other devices can overestimate the calories we’ve spent working out. This can lead to the reward mentality, which I have to be honest and say that I am guilty!  I am currently training for a half marathon, and I find myself putting a little more food on my plate or grabbing a cookie here and there more often than usual. The fact of the matter is, when I am running I only burn approximately 100 calories per mile which is equivalent to 1 Tbsp. of peanut butter, 3 cubes of cheese, 8 teaspoons of ice cream, or 4 oz. of wine. Not enough for my strong appetite! What happens is I end up seeing the number on the scale creep up a bit. So here I am again, preaching balance.  Don’t kill yourself on the treadmill if you are not going to put the effort into your nutrition plan as well.  A good reminder for this RD too! ☺

Interested in scheduling an appointment with a local Registered Dietitian?  Call Blue Mountain Hospital @ 541-575-1311 and ask for Kim Jacobs.

By Megan Pass, PT, DPT, NCPT

During this every-changing time, a Stay Home, Stay Safe executive order from our governor, and need to maintain social distancing, Blue Mountain Hospital District is doing everything possible to serve Grant County Residents, in a safe and effective manner. As such, both Strawberry Wilderness Community Clinic Providers and BMHD Rehabilitation Services have rolled out telehealth. Telehealth is a real-time video chat where a link is sent to the patient through either text message or email for a scheduled appointment with a SWCC Provider or BMHD Rehabilitation Therapist.

Strawberry Wilderness Community Clinic Providers are offering telehealth as an option to serve your needs. We are able to provide care virtually for refills, chronic disease management (diabetes visits, some blood pressure visits, etc.), and some sick visits. Unfortunately, the Oregon Health Authority postponed preventive and wellness visits until it is deemed safe. Many patients, who had appointments postponed, are being called, and given the option to schedule telehealth visits. If internet access is an issue, the providers will phone patients to manage chronic health problems. We all understand that life goes on, and we are committed to helping you manage your chronic conditions.

Please contact Strawberry Wilderness Community Clinic at 541-575-0404 for any health needs, and they will happily direct you to the best treatment option.

Rehabilitation Services, which includes our doctors of physical therapy, occupational therapist, and speech therapist, are now offering telerehab as appropriate and as a virtual case management option. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, telerehab and virtual case management was not an option to rehab professionals. Some insurance companies, including Medicare, are changing the regulations to make sure you are well taken care of.

Telerehab is a regular physical therapy, occupational therapy, or speech therapy visit done over real-time video chat. We will invite you to the “chat room” about 5 minutes before your appointment through a text message or email. This can be done on your computer or smart phone. If you are an existing patient and want to opt in, give us a call and we will walk you through the process to get you started.

Virtual case management is either over the phone, or ideally through real-time video chat. If you are an existing patient and have a question, concern, or change in status, reach out to us and we will guide you on how to set up the video chat.

Rehabilitation Services at BMHD is seeing patients on a critical basis following all precautions. We continue to reach out to you to move you forward on your rehabilitation journey. Call us with any concerns at 541-575-4157.

Whether you opt in to telehealth or not, we are here to serve you. We at Strawberry Wilderness Community Clinic and Rehabilitation Services value your care and are here to serve the health needs of our community.

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