Public Health and Wellness in the Digital Age

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Welcome to the Executive Connect podcast, a show for the new generation of leaders. Join Melissa R. Skog as she speaks to a wide variety of guests that bring new insights into leadership, prosperity, and personal growth. While now it has all the answers, by building a community of open-minded and gauge leaders, we hope to give you the tools you need to help you find your own path to success. [MUSIC] Hello and welcome today to Executive Connect podcast.

I'm excited to have my friend Becca Yanelo here with me today. Thank you so much for being here today Becca. I'm so excited to have you with me today. And I love talking about health and what we can do to better our children and other leaders in our organization. So just kicking it off with the first question I'm curious about your perspective on is can you explain the difference between public health and traditional health care today? Yeah, so this is a really great question.

I think a lot of folks out there have heard the term public health and they're very familiar with health care and how it's delivered in the United States. But the difference between public health and health care can sometimes get lost.

So public health is a field of science that essentially looks at what makes people healthy and what makes people sick, what keeps people healthy and uses that information to guide policies and laws and services to support the health of populations and groups of people. So traditional health care, particularly in the United States, really focuses on responsive medical care and what doctors and nurses and hospitals do in treating people once they get sick.

Now, there is a component of preventive medicine which is like preventing long-term chronic conditions and things like that. But public health looks at not just how do we prevent disease and health issues and injuries, but also what keeps people healthy and really trying to do more of that and removing the risks to our health, like a community level, at a policy level, at a national level.

So while doctors and nurses treat one patient at a time, public health looks at groups of people, looks at everything from communities to cities to states to the entire nation. And how do we do our best to give everyone the chance to be healthy and give everyone what they need to be their healthiest? That's fantastic. What are included under the umbrella of public health?

So public health is a really big umbrella and it covers everything from policies, regulations and laws to health education, science, communication, services and programs. So it's a really, and research as well. So it's a really, really broad field. And what I love about public health is it really looks at the context for what we typically think of as our health.

So it can get include everything from our social relationships to what's in our environment, how we relate to each other, the information that we have and how we make our choices. And also, you know, what we know about the field of medicine and what we know about what is going to keep people healthy and trying to make that accessible to everyone.

So while we know for example that going to your doctor is important and doctors need to, you know, need to be able to provide that medical care that they do, public health looks at, how do we make sure that everyone has access to those doctors and access to the hospitals, access to emergency care? So you know, it's kind of taking medicine and trying to like contextualize it at a broad level. Yeah, I, I didn't really pay too much attention or realize the difference personally.

I just grew up focusing on my health and what I could do to be healthier and eat my vegetables my parents used to say. And then I got older and realized that most people, that wasn't, it's not common to focus on eating well and, you know, taking care of yourself is, it's a learned skill and I feel like it's also a taught skill. And most times people don't realize they need to take care of themselves until they go to the doctor and realize something is really wrong.

So I love, you know, and I know you wrote a book about this, but as it pertains to public health, like why is it so important to the world today? You know, I think the pandemic really brought public health to the public eye because a lot of public health work goes on in the shadows essentially. And, you know, so I think that we all realized the importance of taking care of like everybody and everybody doing their part to try to promote health.

I think that, you know, right now, there are so many things in our society that contribute to whether or not we're healthy and whether people are healthy. And it also, you know, there's disparities in health as well. So we know that, you know, poor areas have worse health outcomes than more affluent areas.

You know, they even say, which is, you know, there's a lot of research on this that your zip code is actually more influential than your genetic code in, you know, your life expectancy and your health outcomes. And so I think it really is important for us all to be educated on about what it is that keeps us healthy and, you know, all of the things that go into public health.

And public health doesn't only focus on, you know, viruses and bacteria and, you know, diseases, but public health also looks at social influences, environmental influences, and how those things also shape our health and wellbeing.

And thinking about health as more than just, you know, your blood pressure, but thinking about it as your overall state of wellbeing, like how you feel mentally, how you feel physically, are you thriving, are you under a lot of stress, and what that does to your health and how it all plays together.

So I think it's important for everyone to kind of understand these influences and then be able to make more informed decisions about how to promote their own health and how to support other people in being healthy too. You know, I wrote a book, a kid's book about public health to also kind of bring awareness

to the fact that this affects people across their lifespan, you know, for children, babies, you know, pregnant women, all the way through end of life, you know, there are so many things that impact our health and things that we don't necessarily think about, right?

So being able to have clean air, there's a recent study that came out of the University of Chicago, indicating that air quality is actually one of the biggest public health issues in our generation because of, you know, air pollution, because of wildfires, because of lots of different things that are impacting air quality.

And they're really finding out that air quality has a significant impact on our health and on disease processes, on, you know, different disease states, not just asthma, for example, but also like more other chronic conditions as well that go into adulthood. So there are lots of things that we can open our eyes to, you know, in general and learn about. And I think that that can also really influence how we live our lives and how we, how we look at health and how we keep ourselves healthy.

So there's, there's a lot of substance there, right? I mean, and also the world is changing as we know.

I mean, even if you think about everything from the, you know, like homelessness or technology and using our cell phones so much and you know, what that's doing to us, I mean, there's literally, there are so many different things going on in society that are constantly changing and evolving and, you know, public health looks at how all of those things are influenced and all those things are influencing our health. So it's a constantly changing field.

Yeah, I, you know, I was just thinking about myself personally at, you know, in Texas, it's like a hundred and six degrees and it's heavily influencing my health and, you know, my energy levels and I know here in Texas, we've had a ton of people that have never had allergies that now all of a sudden have allergies.

Myself included, I've never had a day of allergies and now I'm like, am I getting sick and it's not that I'm getting sick, it's just allergies because it's like you mentioned, the air quality here's changed. The, you know, there's, there's a lot of changes from just the weather alone that's affecting people's energy levels. You know, what can I do or what can we do as a community to support public health?

I think it starts with, with learning about, about public health and I mean, not, not necessarily becoming an expert, right? But just kind of broadening our perspective about what health means, right?

I mean, like you said, it could be everything from how your environment impacts your ability to exercise or, you know, go outside and, or, you know, relieve your stress through your normal, like going for a walk or, you know, going for hike or whatever that may look like, just really starting to kind of open our eyes to all of the different things that impact, impact our health. I think that's a starting place.

And then also, you know, I think that public health is really in some ways, it's like, like this grassroots, like, slash social justice, slash, you know, like just context for life, I mean, thinking about what could be better? What is, what is going on in our environment? What is going on in our lives? What is going on in our communities in our offices, in our, you know, professional lives? How are all of these things impacting people and what could be better?

I mean, I think that that's, that's the challenge of public health, right? I mean, there's, they're just like in medicine, they're constantly evolving, you know, diseases, like COVID, for example, came out of nowhere.

And, you know, the research, there's always more research coming out that's helping us learn about how, what we can do to prevent disease or what we can do to help, in fact, influence that or medicines that come out in public health, it's kind of, you know, it's, it's similar, right? It's like always understanding what's going on around us and how that's influencing us.

You know, even things like, I was having a conversation the other day with, with a woman who's an ophthalmologist and she was telling me that children now are having more myopia because they're looking at screens so much and that the, like, the remedy for it is being outside because when you're outside, your vision has to change between looking in the distance and looking up close and your eyes are constantly, and your brain is constantly, you know, like

accounting for that and, and it's challenging your eyes a little bit. But when you don't have a lot of that and you're only looking at two-dimensional screens for, like, the majority of the time, it can actually influence the way your eyes develop as a child. I mean, these are things that, like, who would have thought, but this is another way that technology is influencing us? So true.

I'm so glad you said that because, you know, personally, you know, I go from call to called, call every day, like, so many people that work, you know, from their home these days or even in an office, where all in Zoom calls and Teams calls and I have to remind myself to look, my eyes to look away from my computer because, you know, I'm not sure I believed in the Zoom fatigue, but I will tell you now, I definitely believe in the Zoom fatigue for my eyes and

my body and the way I sit and, so it is, it's so true, but I always tell my kids at the end of the night, I'm like, give me your phone or your iPad, I'm going to take it away so your eyes can readjust before you go to bed and it's, I think it's something you're right. We don't even think about it.

It's just, you know, our kids today are, I know my kids have laptops that they get, they do their homework on and they, they're on screens all day at school and so I love that you said, they go outside because it makes me feel like I'm, you know, doing the right thing. I'm like, go outside, talk to somebody, talk to somebody else about the computer because it's true. We don't think of those things. We think we're doing the right thing and so it's, I think it's, it's being mindful too, right?

And, and reading some of these things, I know every year I set my goals at the end of the year and one of those always, every year is health. Like, what can I be doing better for my health or, and one of the things that you mentioned is cell phones, like I'm around multiple computers a day. I've, you know, a personal phone and a work phone and just putting my electronic device in the TV and all the things down and walking away from it and stepping outside. So that is a huge win.

I've noticed just for my own mental health and wellbeing that I've had to force in my life and so just with that, you know, with that, like what can we do, you know, adults, kids, people in other countries, everybody? What can we do and where can we go from here from your perspective? Yeah, that's a great question. You know, I think there's, there's so much work to do.

Um, again, I think it starts with learning and, and just being mindful and aware, like you said, um, and kind of shape shifting how we think about health and our mental health and, you know, how all of these things play together. Um, and then, you know, I think from, from my personal perspective and my, my focus in public health and population health, I, you know, my biases, I think, like understanding the disparities, understanding why some people have more health issues than others and

what's behind that and how can we help mitigate that? How can we, you know, reduce those risks? You know, I think so there's, there's a, a parable that's like really commonly told in public health. Um, that's, I don't know if you've ever heard it. It's like called the, like, it's like this river story where there are these two, there are these two people who are, you know, walking along a river.

That's like a rushing river and they notice that somebody is in the, is in the water and they're crying for help. And so one of the people with jumps in the water swims over to them and, you know, gets them and saves them, brings them back to shore.

And then they hear another cry and the person, you know, runs, jumps back in the water, swims back out to them, grabs them, brings them to shore and saves them and they hear another cry and another and another and he keeps running, you know, going back in the water and swimming and saving these people. He finally turns to his friend and says, why aren't you helping? Aren't you going to come help, like, come swim out and help me save these people?

And he says, I'm going to go upstream and figuring figure out why all these people are falling into the water. And that's what public health is, right? So it's like thinking about things differently, not just how do we, how do we remedy, like, sickness, but like, how do we just live our lives in a way that prevents it to begin with? Right? What can we do to give everybody the chance to be healthy and be their healthiest?

And I think part of that is opening our eyes and part of it is understanding the disparities, like, why, you know, women have certain health outcomes that men don't and why are some groups of people, like some, you know, some women have worse, like, pregnancy and birth outcomes than others? What's behind that? Why is that? Like, that's clearly not fair. What can we do as a society just support that and make the playing feels a little bit more level?

So, you know, I think there's, there are so many different things we can do, right? But it's just, I think, generally, it's just about kind of opening our eyes and learning about that.

You know, and I think that there is a push right now, particularly for adults, like, in the workplace, thinking about work wellness and about people's mental health that work, and, you know, how can we be mindful of that work like balance and understanding that, you know, the way that we are balancing our lives will impact our health or even just, like, like you said, even ergonomically, like, how are you sitting at your desk or how your

teams are feeling, you know, or, you know, whether you're inside all day, every day, and, you know, all of those things too. So, there are so many different places to go. And for kids, I would say just learning, you know, there's, I think kids are so, they're so smart, you know, they're so creative and so smart and they pay attention and they notice things.

You know, my kids are almost two and three and a half and I'm always shocked at what they notice and what they see and what they remember, you know, and I think kids can, can connect dots that we as adults can't because we've always lived, you know, we've grown up to think a certain way about problems, about what we see in our environment, about, you know, how people react and relate to each other.

And I think kids bring such a fresh perspective and I think even just giving them information and talking about things can really help kids, you know, become really, you know, a stooot observers about what's going on around them and also kind of come up with creative solutions. Yeah, I love that. I know I have like five health buckets that I focus on. It's, you know, one of my, what am I putting in my body, you know, my exercise, you know, expending, you know, my any kind of activity.

So I do different, you know, yoga and I do kit workouts and walking and all those things. But then, you know, the third part that I pay attention to, you nailed it is like, I always say, is there such thing as balance and you know, I always shoot for a balanced meal and a balanced life and everything's got to be in balance, but mindfulness on your emotional

health, you know, a lot of times people say, are you okay? And I'm like, oh, yeah, I'm okay. I'm great. Everything's great. And I'm saying that, but I'm not looking like it, you know, I forget who I think is maybe my husband that so does to me. You should tell your face to your okay. I'm like, okay, base, we're okay, right? So I think, you know, the emotional, the emotional style, like we talked a little bit about.

And then just, you know, I always say like one of my favorite saying is carpe diem and season the day and really, you know, enjoy life having that, you know, don't live to work, work to live and that kind of those two approaches to life and getting out and enjoying, you know, your hobbies and your family and your friends and so that side of it and so there's kind of different buckets. I, I, I, self-assess and make sure I'm doing the right thing.

Any like top five things or maybe let's call on life hacks that people can do to, you know, that maybe weren't raised with a mom that told them to eat their vegetables. Any like areas that you can suggest to people like quick and easy ways that they can gain some personal wins? Gosh, that's a tough one. You know, it's like everybody's in such a different place, but I do think, I mean, you, you clearly are on to something.

I think the things that come to mind are, you know, when you think about like they have these, this new Netflix show about blue zones, right? Are these like, they're these places in the world where people live to be over 100 more than like the rest of the world and like thinking about what it is that they have in common. I think can teach us a lot, right? So your question. Yeah. So part of it is social connections.

I'm like you were saying just really also focusing not just on our work, but also on our families, on our friends and friendships and or just, you know, practicing gratitude or just, you know, like having some kind of social connection can actually take a lot of stress away from people's lives. I can really enrich people's lives more than, you know, specific accomplishments.

And I think that one of the things that they say is like common in these communities where people like are really healthier and live a long time is their social connection. So obviously like eating well and exercising. I mean, I think exercise is so important for so many different reasons. I mean, you know, we live in a society that's like very vain, right?

So like there's, there's the exercise, you know, there's this like association with exercise and like the way that we look, but it's also very functional, right? To be able to grow older and be able to be independent and do things independently in like lift objects and like reach for things and, you know, not fall easily. I mean, there's so many things that exercise does for us in our longevity. Obviously, you know, trying to eat well.

I mean, I think that not stressing too much, but, you know, like trying to be healthy in those ways. And I think honestly spending time outside and that kind of ties into managing stress. I think managing stress is such a, it's so hard for so many of us. Yep. Particularly, you know, professionals and professionals with families. It's very hard to balance it all with people with demanding jobs. But I think that managing stress is critical. I mean, stress is so toxic for us as human beings.

Like stress is associated with all kinds of bad things that can happen to our health. Raises are blood pressure. It can, you know, increase our risk for heart disease. It can lead to, you know, weight gain, which has its own issues, you know, associated with obesity. So, I mean, there are just so many things that stress as it also ages us faster, like on a genetic level. So, not to stress out about it, but like reducing our stresses is, I think, a huge one, though it's probably a list.

And it looks different for everyone, right? I mean, everybody has different outlets. Yep. So true. So that, I'll be adding that to my list now, back at Purdue stress, live longer. Because, you know, we don't even realize it sometimes. Like the stress is going, you mentioned it earlier with the weather, the season, how that impacts our body or not sleeping and all of it's tied together.

Yeah. It makes me think I need to add stress and that, that, what's my scale from one to 10? And so, I love it. Do you want to do a quick plug for your book and tell our listeners a little bit about your book and how we can find it and the name of it? Yes, definitely. So I wrote a book called, a Kids Book about Public Health.

It's published by a Kids Co, which is a publishing company that publishes books for kids about a lot of different topics that adults sometimes don't necessarily have the shared language to talk about with kids. My book is, it's, you know, it's short, it's easy to, to read with kids and discuss it's for a just five and a half. And it really is just an introduction to what we've talked about today. What is public health? Why does it matter?

The fact that it's all around us and we don't even realize it. And it's available on Amazon, Target, Barnes and Noble and Walmart online. You can also find it through the a Kids Co, publishing website. Yeah. Thank you so much for that. I, you make me think I need to make some changes first and I love the information. I've shared it with my kids. They love it. It's a really good dialogue about it. For kids is always a challenge, right? Less sugar, more moving, less electronic time.

So I know I'm using it with my kids. It's been very helpful. So thank you so much for writing that book. Thank you so much for being here today. I love everything about what you're doing. I'm so excited to have you on again. And buyer books, follow back. She's got a world of information to take from. And thank you so much for being here today on the Executive Connect podcast. Have a great day. Thank you so much for having me as a public. You've been listening to the Executive Connect podcast.

If you have questions or ideas on how to bring leadership to your next level, email us at Executive Connect podcast at gmail.com. And don't forget to subscribe so you can catch every new episode. Until next time. [MUSIC]