Newtown Pa. Recent studies are showing making use of relaxation and stress management techniques,  that there is a real decrease in the health services utilization.

** “Over 90% of people suffering from stress or stress-related problems seek help through primary care and tend to be frequent healthcare utilizers. These visits can comprise as much as 70 percent of physicians’ caseloads. Also, more than 80% of patients presenting to general practice evidence lack of resiliency and psychological stress. Common physical manifestations of stress, e.g., headaches, back pain, insomnia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, irritable bowel, chest discomfort, heart disease, are among the most frequent reasons people seek care.**

Many alternative health practitioners have been aware for a while, the therapeutic benefits of  stress management and relaxation routine done on a regular basis. However prescribing this in a mainstream medical practice has been slow, without scientific evidence.  Massachusetts General Hospital ran a meta-analysis, in which they studied the records of 4,000 patients starting from the year 2006 to 2014. Patients who based on their doctor’s suggestion adopted a relaxation and stress management techniques routine. They compared them to 13,000 other patients who did not use those same techniques.

The results were interesting and significant. The use of “Relaxation Response and Resiliency Training,” as the study calls it, reduced the incidence of healthcare visits by 43 percent. By learning how to use the relaxation techniques, patients were better able to care for themselves and manage symptoms without needing a physician’s intervention.
Having patients harness the benefits of relaxation techniques has multiple advantages:

• Lowers doctors caseloads, improving the quality of care.
• Reduces the burden on the healthcare system
• Provides non-interventional solutions to physical problems
• Provides a safe and effective treatment modality
• Lowers the escalating healthcare cost.

**Our results indicate that mind-body interventions can reduce individual disease burden as well as the utilization of healthcare resources and are well suited to the changing healthcare environment.**

References:

Relaxation Response and Resiliency Training and Its Effect on Healthcare Resource Utilization Published online 2015 Oct 13https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4603901/

Tip sheet : 5- Stress busting tips 

 

Do This 5-minute Process To Heal Your Mind & Your Heart