A heart attack, or myocardial infarction (MI), occurs when a coronary artery is blocked inhibiting or blocking the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the heart, resulting in permanent and sometimes fatal damage to the heart muscle. [1] An estimated 790,000 individuals experienced a heart attack last year across the US. [2]

Of course, in Arkansas, our home state, Heart Disease is the leading cause of death with death rates higher than all but 2 other states. [3]

July 1, 2018 was the deadline for submitting the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Form 300 in regards to Injury and Illness Record Keeping for establishments with 250 or more employees.

How did your company rank this year?

"It's better to get involved when you're not sick than to wait until you're sick."

Janice Estes is a home care assistant for home care agency in North Arkansas. She’s been part of their team for 5 years. Janice has battled her weight and multiple health conditions throughout adulthood. Motivated to make a change, Janice joined the TRS Wellness program that her employer provides to their employees in May of 2017. Her goal in joining the program was to gain encouragement and increase her awareness and skills for weight management.

Janice is an active participant in the program. She recently completed her semi-annual biometric screenings and she meets regularly with Jasmin, her Wellness Coach. Since October of 2017, she has lost about 20 pounds by being more active and focusing on eating more fruit and veggies.

The world of occupational therapy provides a vast, eclectic practice arena where an individual can easily find their niche in a very specific field.  Often these niches spawn from personal endeavors, beliefs, or life events which often have had a direct and profound effect on the practitioner.  Occupational therapists are constantly developing new practice methods, refining expertise, and seeking new arenas for which we can better serve our patients. 

My husband James and I started running a few years ago with an app called C25K.  It seems like every time we decided to start this challenge; it was beginning to be summer in Arkansas.  You know you can’t beat the heat in Arkansas, but we tried many times.  We would try running at night after the sun had set (less heat) and early in the morning before the sun rose (less heat).  No matter when we ran, this was not an easy challenge.  Starting an 8-week running program several times over the course of a couple of years was not working.